•OLOGYUB. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


FROM  THE    LIBRARY  OF 

DR.  JOSEPH   LECONTE. 

GIFT  OF  MRS.   LECONTE. 

No. 


BIOLOGY  ua 


SKETCHES 


THE  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY 


GEOLOGY 


NEBRASKA. 


SAMUEL  AUGHEY,  PH.D.,  LL.D., 


Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  in  the  University  of  Nebraska,   Corresponding  Member  of  the 

Buffalo  Academy  of  Sciences,   Correspond!   g  Member  of  the 

St.  Louis  Academy  of  Sciences,  Etc. 


OMAHA,  NEBRASKA  : 

DAILY  REPUBLICAN  BOOK  AND  JOB  OFFICE. 

1880. 


Nfc 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1880, 

BY  SAMUEL  AUGHEY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress. 


PREFACE. 


^T^HE  continual  demand  for  some  of  my  papers  on  the  geology  of  Ne- 
braska, now  out  of  print,  suggested  the  preparation  of  this  volume.  It 
includes  in  a  revised  form  the  most  important  of  my  publications  on  our 
geology.  The  greater  part  of  this  work,  however,  is  entirely  new,  and  in- 
cludes many  facts  and  observations  now  for  the  first  time  made  known.  I 
had  intended  to  give  a  much  fuller  treatment  of  the  Loess  deposits  and  pe- 
riod, but  the  materials  have  accumulated  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was 
thought  best  to  reserve  them  for  a  separate  volume.  In  preparing  this  work 
I  have  always  kept  in  mind  the  many  letters  of  inquiry  continually  being  re- 
ceived about  the  State-  such  questions  as  are  mot»t  frequently  asked  of  a 
naturalist  about  Nebraska.  Only  a  small  part  of  the  State  has  received  a  de- 
tailed geological  examination,  and  therefore  many  material  points  could 
barely  receive  mention.  In  the  sketches  of  our  geological  history,  I  have 
attempted  to  give  an  idea  of  the  chain  of  events  that  resulted  in  the  present 
order  of  things  in  Nebraska.  My  conclusions  on  many  points  are  very  dif- 
ferent from  others,  but  I  have  come  to  them  by  a  careful  study  of  our  geol- 
ogy for  fifteen  years,  with  all  the  means  which  I  could  command.  Wherever 
I  have  used  the  works  of  others  it  is  acknowledged  in  the  text.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  there  are  omissions  of  this  kind,  as  I  may  not  always  have  remem- 
bered whether  myself  or  another  first  observed  a  fact  or  discovered  a  princi- 
ple. All  such  omissions,  if  any,  are  unintentional.  It  was  intended  to  in- 
clude a  new  geological  map  of  the  State  in  this  work,  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  satisfy  myself  about  the  accuracy  of  some  of  the  boundaries  of  geo- 
logical formations,  and  therefore  postpone  its  publication  till  spring.  • 

I  am  under  obligations  to  Prof.  C.  D.  Wilber  for  important  suggestions; 
and  to  many  persons  over  the  State,  whom  I  cannot  mention  in  detail,  who 
have  provided  me  with  specimens  from  their  localities.  I  am  also  under 
great  obligations  to  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River  Railroad  in  Nebraska, 
to  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  to  the  Atchison  &  Nebraska  Railroad,  and  to 
other  roads  for  transportation  and  other  favors.  Without  the  aid  thus  re- 
ceived, it  would  have  been  impossible  to  make  many  of  the  investigations 
included  in  this  work.  Wherever  I  have  gone  in  the  State  I  have  received 
all  possible  help  from  the  people  in  making  geological  and  other  natural  his- 
tory examinations.  Hoping  that  this  work  will  help  others  to  understand, 
the  physical  conditions  of  our  State,  and  stimulate  an  interest  in  our  natural 
history,  I  submit  it  to  the  people  of  Nebraska. 

SAMUEL  AUGHEY. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  NERRASKA,  January  1st,  1880. 


101283 


CONTENTS. 


PART  FIRST— PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

Chapter.  1'ajrr. 

I.  Topography  and  General  Character  of  Nebraska          ...  3 
II.  Climatology  of  Nebraska     .         .         .         .         .         .         .          .17 

III.  Moisture  and  Rainfall 34 

IV.  Evidences  of  Increasing  Rainfall — Sources  of  Rainfall         .         .  41 
V.  Waters  of  Nebraska   .........  52 

VI.  Drainage  of  Nebraska,  and  Character  of  its  Water     . 

VII.  General  Flora  of    Nebraska 

VIII.  Forest  Trees  and  Shrubs  of  Nebraska,  with  Notes  on  their   Dis- 
tribution          84 

IX.  The  Wild  Fruits  of  Nebraska      .                   97 

X.  Wild  Grasses 108 

XI.  Fauna  of  Nebraska — Vertebrates 117 

XII.  Insect  Life            .         .         . 131 

XIII.  The  Locusts— Mollusks 130 

XIV.  Healthfulness. — Reserve  Forces  and  Probable  Future  of  the  Race 

in  Nebraska  .  M5 


PART  SECOND— GEOLOGY. 

Chapter.  I'ajre. 

I.  Carboniferous  Age  in  Nebraska  .......     l(jl 

II.  Mediaeval  or  Me^ozoic  Times  in  Nebraska 173 

III.  Mediaeval  or  Mesozoic  Times  in  Nebraska,  Continued  .         .     107 

IV.  The  Cenozoic  Age  in  Nebraska. — Eocene  Tertiary  Epoch   .          .     209 
V.  The  Tertiary  Period,  Continued— Miocene  Epoch        .         .         .221 

VI.  Tertiary  Period,  Continued — Pliocene  Epoch       ....     232 
VII.  Quaternary  Age — Glacial  Period   to  the  Loess — Superficial  De- 
posits           .     252 

VIII.  The  Quaternary  Age  and  Su  erficial  Deposits,  Continued — Loess 

Period  . 2(55 

IX.  Quaternary  Age  and  Superficial  Deposits,  Continued. — Terrace 
Epoch. — Alluvium. —  Sand  Hills.  —  Alkali  Lands.  —  Timber, 
and  Cause  of  Change  of  Climate  .  .  ... 

X.  Economic  Geology 

Appendix    .         .         .         .         .         .          .         .         .  .3.9 


PART    FIRST. 
PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TOPOGRAPHY    AND    GENERAL    CHARACTER     OF 

NEBRASKA. 

Position — Surface— Bottom  Lands — Tables  of  Elevation — Average  Ele- 
vation and  Grade— How  to  gain  a  Conception  of  its  Topography — Num- 
ber of  Valleys — Exceptional  Features  of  the  Niobrara  River  Region — Sand 
Hills  — Bad  Lands. 

"VTEBRASK  A  occupies  a  position  near  the  centre  of  the  Republic. 
1  i  The  parallel  of  40°  is  its  southern  boundary,  and  the  Missouri 
River,  the  Niobrara  and  the  Keya  Paha  rivers  form  the  Northern 
boundary  as  far  west  as  range  twenty  west  of  the  sixth  principal 
meridian.  West  of  this  point  the  parallel  of  43°  forms  its  northern 
boundary.  Its  eastern  boundary  is  the  Missouri,  whose  direction 
here  is  a  little  east  of  south.  This  brings  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  State  to  the  95°  25'  meridian.  The  104  meridian  west  of  Green- 
wich marks  its  western  boundary  down  to  latitude  41°.  Below 
this  point  a  line  a  few  miles  west  of  the  102°  meridian  constitutes 
the  western  boundary  of  the  State.  This  notch  takes  out  of  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  State,  7,300  square  miles.  Were  it  not 
for  this  offset  the  State  in  shape  would  approximate  to  a  parallelo- 
gram. The  extreme  width  of  the  State  from  north  to  south  is  208.5 
miles,  and  its  length  from  east  to  west  is  within  a  fraction  of  413 
miles.  In  area  the  State  approximates  closely  to  75,995  square 
miles,  or  nearly  48,636,800  acres.  Taking  Ohio,  which  has  an  area 
of  39,964  square  miles,  as  the  type  of  a  model  sized  state,  it  is  seen 
that  Nebraska  contains  almost  twice  as  much  territory.  The  area  of 
Nebraska  is  12,359  square  miles  larger  than  all  the  New  England 
states  combined.  It  contains  20,000  more  square  miles  of  territory 
than  Iowa.  England  and  Wales  combined  have  less  area  by 
17,000  square  miles  than  Nebraska.  In  extent  of  territory  it  is  an 


4  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

empire,  and  yet  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  few  states  have  really  so 
little  waste  land  as  Nebraska.  It  lies  in  the  same  path  in  which  the 
currents  of  emigration  have  been  flowing — in  the  line  of  the  great 
States  of  the  Union,  and  must  in  the  nature  of  things  receive  their 
overflow  of  population. 

SURFACE  OF  THE  STATE. 

The  surface  of  Nebraska  is  exceedingly  varied.  There  are  in- 
deed no  elevations  that  can  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  mountains, 
but  in  the  northern  and  western  parts  of  the  State  there  are  lofty 
hills  of  very  varied  character.  Generally  the  ascent  is  gentle, 
though  occasionally  it  is  precipitous.  Unlike  the  ridges  of  the  east 
which  are  so  generally  the  result  of  elevations  and  subsidences  of 
the  earth's  crust  modified  by  subsequent  aqueous  agencies,  the  hills 
and  rolling  lands  of  Nebraska  are  mostly  wholly  caused  by  erosion. 
In  the  east  the  body  of  hills  is  mainly  made  up  of  massive  rocks, 
here  it  is  partly  composed  of  loosely  compacted  drift  materials,  but 
mainly  of  Loess.  In  fact,  Nebraska  emerged  so  recently  geologically 
from  the  waters  of  the  Loess  age,  that  it  still  exhibits  as  a  whole 
many  of  the  phenomena  of  a  recently  drained  lake  bed.  The  gen- 
tly rolling  lands  of  three-fourths  of  the  State  appear  very  much  like 
the  suddenly  petrified  waves  and  billows  of  the  ocean.  Sometimes 
extensive  stretches  of  surface  are  met  with  that  appear  to  be  level, 
but  closer  observation  shows  even  these  to  be  gently  undulating. 
From  these  last  mentioned  forms  to  the  few  isolated  sections  of  lim- 
ited extent,broken  by  canyons  with  precipitous  sides,  the  transition  is 
gradual.  Every  shade  of  form  and  surface  connects  the  two  varieties 

of  relief.     The 

BOTTOM  LANDS 

are  the  most  conspicuous  modifying  feature  of  the  landscape  of  the 
State.  In  crossing  the  State  at  rf'ght  angles  to  the  direction  of  the 
streams,  the  bottom  lands  are  met  with  every  few  miles.  They  are 
huge,  generally  shallow  troughs,  in  breadth  proportionate  common- 
ly, to  the  size  of  the  streams.  They  range  in  width  from  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  on  the  smaller  streams  to  twenty-three  miles  on  the  Platte 
and  the  Missouri.  They  are  frequently  terraced,  and  the  terraces  like 
broad  steps  gradually  lead  to  the  bordering  bluffs  which  in  turn  are 
very  varied  in  height  and  form.  Frequently  the  low  terraces  on 
the  bottoms  have  had  their  edges  so  worn  away  that  their  charac- 
ter is  concealed.  What  was  once  a  terrace  has  become  a  gentle  slope. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   NEBRASKA.  5 

A  good  example  of  this  character  are  the  slopes  on  the  bottoms  be- 
tween Crete  and  Beatrice,  and  between  Ashland  and  Lincoln.  The 
bottoms  with  their  bordering  lines  of  bluffs  wind  and  vary  in  direc- 
tion as  much  as  the  serpentine  movements  of  the  streams  them- 
selves. The  bluffs  are  steepest  and  roughest  on  the  Missouri,  es- 
pecially towards  the  north  line  of  the  State.  On  the  middle  Nio- 
brara  they  frequently  assume  the  exceptional  character  of  borders  to 
deep  canyons.  Even  on  the  Missouri  there  are  very  few  that  cannot 
be  successfully  cultivated.  Occasionally  it  is  hard  to  tell  where  the 
bottom  ceases  and  the  bluffs  begin.  This  is  owing  betimes  to  the  ter- 
races that  ascend  the  bluffs,  and  sometimes  to  the  lowness  of  the 
bluffs  whose  rounded  outlines  like  the  sides  of  a  shallow  basin  merge 
gradually  into  the  bottom.  Sometimes  the  wind  has  worn  the 
sides  of  a  bluff  into  stair  like  forms.  The  observer  not  infrequent- 
ly meets  portions  of  a  bluff  standing  out  in  isolated,  perpendicular 
walls  like  huge  battlements.  The  innumerable  tributaries  that 
creep  quietly  and  unexpectedly  into  the  main  bottoms  compli- 
cate still  further  these  forms  of  landscape.  The  traveler  with  poe- 
try and  art  in  his  composition  is  often  tempted  to  ascend  a  bluff  adjoin- 
ing a  valley,  which  lying  at  his  feet,  enables  him  to  trace  it  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach.  The  upland  plain  on  the  other  side,  whose  inequal- 
ities are  wavelike,  gives  a  sharply  outlined  background  to  the  pic- 
ture of  the  valley.  He  is  at  a  loss  to  which  to  assign  the  palm  of 
greatest  beauty.  The  effect  is  intensified  wThen  upland  and  valley 
are  dotted  with  homesteads  and  cultivated  grounds.  The  quiet 
beauty  that  comes  from  human  industry  then  blends  with  the  sub- 
limity of  nature. 

The  dominant  geometrical  form  observed  in  the  forms  of  the  sur- 
face is  the  curve.  The  observer  never  gets  outside  of  curves. 
They  intrude  themselves  everywhere.  They  are  not  uniform  mo- 
notonous curves,  but  curves  infinitely  varied.  Rarety  is  a  straight 
line  needed  to  relieve  from  sameness,  but  wrhen  it  is  needed  it  is 
there.  The  streams,  the  terraces,  the  bluffs,  the  valleys  themselves 
all  follow  curves.  There  are  short  curves  and  long  curves;  regu- 
lar and  irregular  curves;  infinitely  varied,  seemingly  in  confusion, 
but  all  full  of  profound  expression — the  expression  of  matchless 
beauty.  "  The  curve  is  the  line  of  beauty."  Here  nature  has  put 
forth  her  best  efforts  to  exemplify  this  law.  No  artist  has  yet  suc- 
cessfully painted  Nebraska  scenery.  It  still  awaits  the  master 
mind  who  can  catch  with  his  artist's  eye  these  superb  forms  of 


6  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

quiet  beauty  and  place  them  on  canvass.  A  remarkable  feature  is 
the  commonness  of  beautiful  landscapes.  Almost  every  mile  along 
the  river  valleys  affords  them.  The  bottoms  along  the  bluffs  at 
every  turn  are  sculptured  with  beautiful  coves,  which,  sheltered 
from  wind  and  storm,  afford  favorite  building  spots  formany  people. 

ELEVATION  OF  NEBRASKA. 

The  greater  part  of  Nebraska  is  a  plateau.  This  will  be  appar- 
ent by  an  examination  of  the  following  list  of 'elevations  above  the 
sea  level.  For  convenience  the  elevations  are  given,  first  in  lines 
running  along  the  Missouri,  and  then  in  lines  running  east  and 
west.  Those  marked  with  a  star  were  taken  by  myself  with  a 
barometer  and  are  only  proximately  correct.  Those  along  the 
Republican  Valley  from  Orleans  westward,  were  taken  by  D.  N. 
Smith,  Esq.,  of  Burlington,  Iowa,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe 
from  observations  taken  with  him  that  they  are  proximately  cor- 
rect. The  observations  in  northwestern  Nebraska  not  marked 
with  a  star  were  taken  by  Captain  W.  S.  Stanton,  of  the  engineer 
corps,  U.  S.  A.  The  remaining  determinations  of  heights  have 
been  taken  from  the  railroad  surveys  of  the  State.  The  e'evations 
are  in  feet. 

Southeast  corner  of  the  State  on  the  bottoms. at  the  mouth  of  the  Nemaha 

River *878 

Brownville 919 

Nebraska  City 964 

"          "    at  low  water  of  the  Missouri 919 

Plattsmouth  984 

Omaha,  U.  P.  Depot '...  1,056.26 

"      low  water  of  Missouri 983.26" 

"      high       "       "         "         1,002.26 

Blair 1,111 

Tekamah *1,040 

Decatur '. *1,052 

Dakota  City *1,069 

Ponca *1,178 

St.  James *1,185 

Green  Island *1,204 

Niobrara *1 ,240 

ELEVATIONS  NEAR  THE  SOUTH  LINE  OF  THE  STATE. 

Falls  City 904 

Beatrice *1,278 

Fairbury 1,324 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   NEBRASKA.  7 

Belvidere '. x  509 

Red  Cloud 

Bloomington 

Orleans 2,150 

Arapahoe 2,250 

Indianola 2,600 

Culbertson 2,760 

State  Line 3  QQQ 

Head  of  the  Republican  in  Colorado 4,050 

ELEVATIONS  ALONG  THE  LINE  OF  THE  B.  &  M.  R.  R.  IN  NE- 
BRASKA. 

Plattsmouth 934 

Omaha  Junction 1,001 

Louisville ',  .1,041 

South  Bend 1,002 

Ashland 1,102 

Greenwood. 1,141 

Waverly 1,137 

Lincoln 1,164 

Highland 1,429 

Crete 1,369 

Dorchester 1,502 

Fairraount 1,657 

Harvard 1,815 

Juiiiata 1 ,985 

Keiiepaw 2,064 

Lowell 2,086 

Kearney  Junction 2,163 

ELEVATIONS  ON   THE  B.  &  M.  R.  R.  FROM  NEBRASKA  CITY  TO 
YORK,  VIA  LINCOLN. 

Nebraska  City 964 

Dunbar  . .  .1,069 


Syracuse 
Palmyra  . 
Bennett.. 
Cheneys . 
Lincoln  . . 


,064 
,154 
,154 
,444 
,164 

Woodlawn 1,194 

Germantown 1,584 

Seward 1,449 

York *1,473 

ELEVATIONS   ON    THE  LINE  OF   THE  ATCHISON   &   NEBRASKA 

RAILROAD. 

Rulo *887 

Falls  City 904 


8  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Salem ; 917 

Humboldt 989 

Table  Rock 1,036 

Tecumseh . 1,120 

Sterling 1 ,193 

Summit 1,375 

Lincoln 1 ,1 64 

ELEVATIONS  ALONG  THE  LINE  OF  THE  UNION   PACIFIC  RAIL- 
ROAD. 

Omaha,  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  Depot 1,050 

Papillion 1 ,009 

Elkhorn.         1,187 

Fremont 1,220 

Schuyler  1,372 

Columbus 1,469 

Clarks  1,647 

Lone  Tree 1,723 

Grand  Island 1,887 

Wood  River 2,011 

Gibbon 2,083 

Kearney 2,143 

Elm  Creek 2,278 

Plum  Creek 2,406 

Willow  Island 2,547 

Bradley  2,673 

North  Platte 2,825 

O'Fallon's 3,012 

Alkali 3,074 

Ogalalla 3,225 

Brule 3,301 

Julesburg 3,535 

Lodge  Pole 3,835 

Sidney 4,108 

Antelope 4,747 

Pine  Bluffs 5,061 

ELEVATIONS  ALONG  THE  LINE  OF  THE  FREMONT,  ELKHORN  AND 
MISSOURI  VALLEY  RAILROAD. 

Fremont 1,220 

Nickerson 1 ,222 

Hooper 1,248 

Scribner 1,227 

Crowell 1,296 

West  Point 1,337 

Wisner 1 ,404 

Norfolk *  1 ,428 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  NEBRASKA.  9 

ELEVATIONS  ALONG  THE  NORTH  LINE  OF  THE  STATE. 

Niobrara *1,240 

Mouth  of  Keya  Paha , . .  .*i,960 

Mouth  of  Snake  River *2,690 

Camp  Sheridan,  Old  Spotted  Tail  Agency *3,490 

Camp  Robinson 3,764 

State  Line  on  Cottonwood  Creek 3,781 

Indian  Creek,  northwest  corner  of  State 4,013 

Scott's  Bluffs,  thirty  miles  north  of  Pine  Bluffs  *G,051 

Clark's  Bridge,  north  of  Sidney 3,707 

Niobrara  River,  southeast  of  Fort  Robinson 4,118 

White  Man's  Fork  on  State  Line,  south  of  U.  P.  R.  R 3,188 

From  the  preceding  data  it  is  estimated  that  the  eastern  half  or 
the  State  along  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  has  an  average 
elevation  of  1,700  feet,  the  western  half  3,525  feet.  The  average 
elevation  of  the  whole  line  would  be  2,612  feet. 

Along  the  south  line  of  the  State  the  elevation  of  the  eastern 
half  averages  1,200  feet;  the  western  half  2,672  feet. 

Along  the  north  line  of  the  State  the  data  given  makes  the  eastern 
half  beginning  at  Ponca  1,353  above  the  sea  level.  The  western 
half  averages  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  line  of  Union  Pacific 
Railroad.  It  is  proportionately  greater  along  its  middle  and  less 
along  its  western  portion.  This  would  give  an  elevation  of  2,312 
feet  for  the  whole  State.  This  is  a  much  smaller  elevation  than  is 
usually  given  for  the  State,  but  it  is  the  more  accurate  because  based 
on  elevations  along  the  north  and  south  line,  as  well  as  through  the 
centre  of  the  State  from  the  east  to  west.  Estimates  heretofore 
made  place  the  mean  elevations  at  2,550  feet. 

For  the  first  one  hundred  miles  west  from  Omaha  the  ascent 
is  at  the  rate  of  five  and  a  half  feet  to  the  mile.  The  second 
hundred  miles  increases  the  ascent  to  seven  feet ;  the  third 
hundred,  seven  and  a  half  feet,  and  the  fourth  hundred  to  ten  and  a 
half  feet  to  the  mile.  The  ascent  on  the  last  fifty  miles  on  the 
west  end  of  the  State  is  eighteen  feet  to  the  mile.  While  these 
figures  are  not  exact  they  are  close  approximations  to  the  truth. 
The  calculation  has  been  made  for  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  but  the  south  line  of  the  State  differs  very  little  from  this. 
A  similar  gradual  ascent  characterizes  the  northern  line  of  the 
State.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  second  and  third  hundred  miles 
have  almost  the  same  gradual  ascent.  After  this  the  ascent  in- 
creases quite  rapidly  until  it  reaches  eighteen  feet  to  the  mile.  The 


10  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

increase  of  elevation  going  north  and  west  on  the  eastern  boundary 
of  the  State  along  the  Missouri  is  much  less.  Taking  the  mouth  of 
the  Nemaha  as  our  starting  point,  whose  elevation  is  878  feet,  and 
comparing  it  with  the  elevation  of  the  Missouri  bottom  at  Omaha, 
which  is  1,002  feet  we  have  a  difference  of  124  feet,  or  a  rise  of  one 
and  a  fourth  feet  to  the  mile.  The  fall  between  Omaha  and  Dako- 
ta City  is  even  less  than  this. 

In  western  Nebraska  the  difference  in  elevation  between  the 
south  line  of  the  State  and  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  approxi- 
mates to  352  feet.  On  the  west  line  of  the  State  the  ascent  con- 
tinues going  north  until  at  Scott's  Bluffs  an  elevation  of  6,051  feet 
is  reached.  Although  this  is  only  approximately  correct,  as  I  took 
the  observations  with  a  barometer,  yet  there  is  little  doubt  that  this  is 
the  highest  point  in  the  State.  From  here  there  is  a  gradual  de- 
scending slope  to  the  north  line  of  the  State  with  some  intervening 
inequalities  and  depressions  in  the  valleys  of  the  Niobrara,  the 
White  Earth,  and  Indian  Creek.  From  the  Republican  River  on 
the  West  line  of  the  State  to  Big  Springs  in  the  same  meridian  on 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  there  is  an  ascent  of  352  feet.  From 
this  latter  place  there  is  a  still  further  rise  of  283  feet  to  the  Niobra- 
ra River,  or  a  total  ascent  along  this  line  from  south  to  north  of  635 . 
feet,  against  a  corresponding  difference  of  less  than  200  feet  along 
the  eastern  border  of  the  State.  It  will  also  be  remembered  that 
the  lowest  part  of  the  State  is  its  southeast  corner,  and  the  highest 
part  is  a  point  north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  on  Scott's  Bluffs. 
Take  the  State  therefore  as  a  whole  and  it  will  be  seen  that  it  slopes 
tnainly  toward  the  east  and  in  a  minor  degree  toward  the  south. 
The  only  exception  to  this  rule  is  the  extreme  western  line  of  the 
State,  where  the  Colorado  notch  has  taken  from  Nebraska  territory 
a  section  which  legitimately  should  belong  to  her.  Because  of  this 
shortening  of  our  southwestern  border,  Pine  Bluffs,  the  last  station  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  in  Nebraska  is  near  the  south  line  of  the 
State.  From  here  the  ascent  toward  the  north  continues  only  for 
about  thirty-six  miles  to  Scott's  Bluffs  from  which  there  is  a  grad- 
ual descent  to  Indian  Creek  near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State. 
But  eastward  from  this  point  the  descent  is  generally  south  and 
still  more  east.  As  would  be  expected  from  such  relief  forms  the 
great  majority  of  the  tributaries  of  the  main  streams,  except  those  of 
the  Niobrara,  flow  towards  the  southeast.  Prof.  Wilber  has  re- 
marked that  lines  drawn  along  the  main  divides  of  the  State  on  any 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  NEBRASKA.  11 

map  would  enclose  the  drainage  systems  in  forms  resembling  huge 
oags.  The  open  end  representing  the  mouths  or  lower  ends  of 
the  rivers  will  face  the  east  or  southeast. 

How  TO  GAIN  A  CONCEPTION  OF  NEBRASKA  TOPOGRAPHY. 

Conspicuous  as  are  the  valleys  of  Nebraska  no  good  idea  of  its 
topography  can  be  formed  by  following  them  exclusively.  Thou- 
sands pass  through  the  Platte  Valley  from  east  to  west  without 
comprehending  the  physical  features  of  the  State.  In  fact,  I  have 
met  many  old  freighters  across  the  plains  who  entirely  mistook  its 
character,  because  they  had  followed  mainly  the  valleys.  This,  too, 
is  one  cause  for  the  misstatements  of  tourists,  who  have  described 
Nebraska  as  a  monotonous,  level  plain. 

To  gain  a  clear  conception  then  of  Nebraska  topography,  one 
must  cross  the  valleys  and  divides  nearly  at  right  angles.  In  do- 
ing this  it  will  be  observed  that  the  most  rolling  lands  generally 
border  the  valleys  or  bottoms.  Advancing,  the  rolling  and  some- 
times broken  character  gradually  disappears  when  the  divide  is 
reached  which  separates  the  last  from  the  next  drainage  system. 
Here  the  land  swells  out  into  a  gently  undulating  plain  that  varies 
extremely  in  extent.  The  extent  of  such  a  divide  may  be  limited 
to  a  half  mile  or  may  extend  for  thirty  or  more  miles.  These 
swells  or  long  tongues  of  undulating  lands  are  found  on  the  divides 
between  nearly  all  the  rivers  of  the  State.  Occasionally  between 
the  lesser  streams  a  single  low  bluff,  a  few  hundred  feet  wide,  and 
only  slightly  raised  above  the  general  level,  marks  the  divide. 
Among  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  divides  are  the  beautiful  up- 
lands between  the  Republican  and  the  Platte,  between  the  Platte 
and  the  Blue  Rivers,  and  between  the  forks  of  the  Blue  Rivers. 
Between  the  Blues  and  Nemahas,  and  between  the  forks  of  the  lat- 
ter similar  divides  exist.  North  of  the  Platte,  conspicuous  for  their 
beauty,  are  the  divides  between  the  forks  of  the  Elkhorn,  and  at 
the  headwaters  and  between  the  forks  of  the  Logan,  and  between 
the  Elkhorn  and  the  Loups.  In  fact  they  are  met  with  between 
most  of  the  streams  of  the  State.  Some  of  these  high  uplands  have 
great  numbers  of  shallow  basin-shaped  depressions  whose  soil  and 
grasses  closely  resemble  those  of  the  bottom  lands.  They  are  evi- 
dently the  remains  of  lakes  that  until  recently  occupied  their  sites. 
Indeed  some  of  them  still  retain  this  character,  being  filled  with  water 
the  whole  year  round,  varying  from  one  to  ten  feet  in  depth. 


12  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Between  these  last  and  swamps  and  bogs,  every  kind  of  transition 
form  is  found.  Fillmore,  Clay,  York,  Hamilton,  Franklin,  Phillips 
and  Wayne  Counties  have  a  notable  number  of  these  old  lake  beds. 

NUMBER  OF  NEBRASKA  VALLEYS. 

Nothing  is  more  surprising  to  one  who  studies  the  relief  forms 
of  the  State  than  the  amazing  number  of  valleys  or  bottom  lands. 
Some  writers  have  stated  that  there  were  several  hundred.  It  would 
have  been  more  correct  to  have  reported  several  thousand.  Take 
the  region  of  the  Republican  as  an  example.  On  an  average  a 
tributary  valley  comes  into  the  main  bottom  from  the  north  side 
every  two  miles.  Now  as  this  river  flows  for  two  hundred  miles 
through  the  State,  it  would  give  one  hundred  for  this  section  alone. 
Counting,  however,  the  streams  that  come  in  from  the  south  side, 
and  those  flowing  into  its  larger  tributaries,  this  number  should  be 
multiplied  by  at  least  four,  giving  four  hundred  valleys  great  and 
small  for  this  region  alone.  Now  add  to  these  valleys  those  that 
are  tributary  to  the  Platte,  the  Blues,  the  Nemahas,  the  Elkhorns, 
the  Logan,  the  Bows,  the  Missouri  between  its  larger  tributaries, 
the  Niobrara  and  the  Loups,  and  it  will  increase  the  number  to 
thousands.  It  is  true  that  many  of  them  are  narrow,  ranging  from 
one  fourth  to  a  mile  in  width,  but  still  they  are  valleys  with  living 
or  extinct  stream  beds  in  the  middle  or  towards  one  side  of  them,' 
and  having  all  the  physical  features  of  the  larger  river  bottoms. 
As  already  intimated  there  are  a  few  minor  valleys  among  the 
smaller  tributaries  of  the  upper  Elkhorns,  Bazile,  Loups,  Niobra- 
ra and  Republican,  in  the  stream  beds  of  which  the  water  no  long- 
er flows,  but  as  will  be  shown  further  on  many  of  them  are  regain- 
ing, and  all  of  them  will  in  time,  their  former  supply  of  water. 
Thus  can  be  seen  why  over  the  larger  part  of  Nebraska  the  settler 
can  have  his  choice  between  bottom  and  upland.  The  great  body 
of  these  bottom  lands,  though  composed  of  the  richest  mould  and 
modified  alluvium  and  Loess  materials  are  perfectly  dry.  It  is  true 
that  swamps  are  occasionally  met  with,  but  they  occur  at  long  in- 
tervals and  are  the  exception. 

No  one  can  gain  any  idea  of  the  number  of  these  bottom  lands  by 
looking  at  a  map.  Neither  can  they  ^be  found  on  the  plats  of  the 
government  surveys,  though  in  the  latter  they  are  more  fully  given 
than  in  the  former.  In  fact,  counting  in  the  small  tributaries  with 
their  narrow  bottoms,  not  less  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF   NEBRASKA.  13 

entire  surface  of  the  State  is  made  up  of  bottom  lands.  This  is  a 
higher  estimate  than  I  formerly  made,  but  I  have  come  to  it  by  in- 
creased study  of  the  physical  features  of  the  State. 

EXCEPTIONAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  NIOBRARA  RIVER   REGION. 

The  Niobrara  River  is  the  least  known  of  all  the  drainage  sys- 
tems of  the  State.  It  deserves  to  be  better  known,  and  in  the  near 
future  will  be  visited  and  studied  by  the  geologist  and  the  artist. 
It  holds  concealed  many  unrevealed  wonders  for  the  student  of  na- 
ture and  of  art. 

For  the  first  ninety  miles  from  its  mouth  the  Niobrara  is  not 
greatly  different  from  other  Nebraska  rivers,  save  in  the  exception- 
al rapidity  of  its  current,  and  its  sandy  flats  and  numerous  islands. 
Its  bottom  is  also  narrower  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  river 
than  other  streams  of  the  State. 

In  going  up  the  valley  it  is  observed  to  change  rapidly  at  about 
longitude  99°  20'.  The  bluffs  contract  and  become  lofty.  In  fact, 
the  river  here  flows  through  a  deep  canyon.  It  retains  this  charac- 
ter for  the  next  180  miles  or  to  about  longitude  102°.  The  sides  of 
the  canyon  are  often  three  hundred  and  sometimes  four  hundred  feet 
high.  The  walls  are  mostly  composed  of  silicious,  and  yellowish, 
whitish  and  calcareous  rocks.  They  are  often  capped  with  a  hard 
grit  which  preserves  their  vertical  character,  and  often  causes  them 
to  be  undermined  and  assume  an  umbrella  form.  In  this  cany  on  re- 
gion it  is  next  to  impossible  to  follow  along  the  immediate  banks  of 
the  river,  owing  to  the  numerous  isolated  buttes  and  walls  that 
rise  perpendicularly  from  near  the  water's  edge,  making  walls 
across  the  line  of  travel  hundreds  of  feet  high.  No  indication  of 
the  river's  existence  is  here  given  in  approaching  it  from  either  side, 
except  by  the  trees  that  sometimes  rear  their  tops  above  the  canyon, 
and  which  grow  near  the  water's  edge.  The  sides  of  the  canyon  are 
worn  into  innumerable  labyrinths  by  the  numberless  springs  that 
have  been,  like  the  main  river,  chiseling  the  rocks  for  ages.  These 
lateral  canyons  are  exceedingly  mazy  in  their  windings.  Nowhere 
else  have  I  ever  seen  such  cool,  clear,  strong  and  sparkling  springs 
as  here  abound.  Their  number  is  astonishing.  They  are  met  with 
in  places  for  miles  every  few  hundred  feet  or  yards. 

At  the  lower  end  of  this  canyon  region  the  rocks  are  of  cretaceous 
age.  Towards  the  west  end  the  cretaceous  becomes  covered  with 
tertiary  rocks.  Vegetation  in  the  canyons  of  the  Niobrara  is 


14  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

prolific.  In  places  pines  and  cedars  abound.  Near  the  east  end  of  the 
canyon  region  the  oak,ash,  cottonwood  and  elm,  and  occasionally  box 
elder  are  intermingled  with  pines — which  sometimes,  however,  are 
entirely  wanting.  Grass,  too,  is  abundant.  Here  formerly  was  the 
paradise  for  elk,  deer  and  antelope,  wolves  and  foxes.  Food  and 
shelter,  the  agencies  most  important  to  preserve  brute  life  was  spe- 
cially abundant.  No  wonder  that  the  Indian  tenaciously  clung  to 
this  region.  Here  the  chase  always  supplied  him  with  abundance 
of  food.  To  him  it  was  also  consecrated  ground.  Here  in  the  laby- 
rinthine canyons  among  the  trees,  druid  like,  with  the  light  of  the 
sun  shut  out,  he  communed  with  the  shades  of  his  ancestors.  Here 
he  heard  as  he  did  nowhere  else  the  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit  in  the 
rustle  of  the  leaves  and  the  sighing  of  the  winds. 

Where  the  river  enters  the  canyon  it  is  about  eighty-two  yards 
wide.  It  narrows  towards  its  source,  and  before  the  west  line  of 
the  State  is  reached  it  is  reduced  in  breadth  to  ten  or  fifteen  feet. 
The  water,  however,  is  remarkably  clear  and  cool.  Above  the 
canyon  the  valley  is  well  covered  with  grass  and  a  great  abundance 
of  rushes.  Wood,  however,  in  this  part  of  its  course  is  rare. 

A  large  part  of  the  entire  middle  portion  of  the  Niobrara  River, 
as  first  observed  by  General  Warren,  flows  lengthwise  of  an  anti- 
clinal ridge.  In  the  canyons,  for  example,  the  rocks  dip  away  from 
the  river  on  each  side.  In  places  where  I  had  opportunity  to 
measure  the  angle  their  inclination  away  from  the  stream  amounted 
to  from  ten  to  fifteen  degrees.  It  is  probable  that  the  river  has  been 
outlined  only  since  the  close  of  the  submergence  that  attended  the  gla- 
cial age.  Flowing  along  this  anticlinal  ridge  when  it  first  emerged  it 
has  continued  in  its  old  rut  as  the  continent  was  rising,  cutting 
down  its  bed  about  as  rapidly  as  the  uplifting  took  place.  It  is 
probably  a  continuation  of  some  uplift  and  break  eastward  from 
the  mountains  similar  to  the  one  seen  near  Camp  Robinson.  Over 
a  portion  of  the  western  end  of  the  Niobrara  River  this  anticlinal 
ridge  on  top  of  which  it  flows  is  not  visible.  The  cutting  of  the 
river  still  continues,  but  its  rate  is  uncertain  but  probably  about  a 
foot  to  the  century. 

As  would  be  expected  the  tributaries  of  the  Niobrara  that  flow 
into  it  from  the  north  or  south  are  very  short.  The  larger  ones  in- 
variably flow  parallel  or  nearly  so  to  it.  The  Keya  Paha  and 
Snake  River  are  the  most  conspicuous  instances.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  hereafter  it  will  be  found  that  the  Keya  Paha  occupies  a 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   NEBRASKA.  15 

depression  beyond  the  anticlinal  ridge  along  which  the  Niobrara 
flows.  In  the  canyon  region,  in  going  to  the  Niobrara,when  within 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  of  it  I  invariably  found  myself  going  up 
hill.  It  was  rarely  sensible  to  the  eye,  but  the  barometer  noted  it 
distinctly.  When  the  river  was  reached  it  lay  from  one  hundred 
and  fifty  to  four  hundred  feet  below.  On  the  north  side  it  was 
again  down  hill  for  a  short  distance.  Some  of  the  head  waters  of 
the  Loup  originate  close  to  the  Niobrara,  because  of  this  ridge  on 
top  of  which  it  flows.  This  makes  it  impossible  to  drain  much  of 
the  country  from  the  south.  For  the  exceptional  meteorological 
conditions  here  the  reader  is  referred  to  Chapter  III. 

SAND  HILLS. 

South  of  the  valley  of  the  Niobrara  and  its  canyons,  and  com- 
mencing about  longitude  100°  are  the  far  famed  Sand  Hills.  The 
sands  of  these  hills  are  partially  moveable.  Where  they  monopo- 
lize the  ground  travel  is  difficult,  both  because  of  the  inequalities  of 
the  ground  and  their  shifting  character.  They  vary  in  height  from 
a  few  yards  to  several  hundred  feet.  Their  shape  approximates 
the  conical  form.  A  curious  character  of  these  hills  is  the  conical 
depression  so  frequently  found  on  or  near  their  summits  which  are 
made  by  the  winds.  Many  of  these  have  the  form  of  craters. 
Sometimes  these  crater-like  excavations  occur  on  the  sides  of  the 
sand  hills.  Indeed  almost  every  kind  of  wind  sculpturing  occurs 
among  them,  and  the  observer  is  surprised  at  every  step  at  the 
strange  forms  that  meet  him.  It  is  a  fine  field  for  the  study  of  the 
opposite  effects  on  landscape  of  wind  and  water  agencies.  Such 
crater-like  holes  freshly  formed  are  destitute  of  vegetation.  Form- 
erly these  "  barren  holes  "  were  abundant  in  the  sand  hill  regions. 
Now  the  great  body  of  them  are  grown  over  with  grass,  and  new 
ones  in  process  of  forming  are  only  met  with  at  longer  intervals* 
But  by  no  means  is  so  large  an  extent  of  country  covered  by  them 
as  is  sometimes  represented.  In  going  southward  from  the  Nio- 
brara after  wandering  among  the  sand  hills  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles 
they,  are  found  often  suddenly  to  cease,  and  a  grass-covered  prairie 
of  great  richness  to  take  their  place.  There  are  also  extensive  sand 
hills  at  the  head  of  the  Loups.  Between  these  sections  there  is 
generally  a  gently  rolling  prairie  with  occasional  sand  hills  dotted 
over  them.  There  are  also  sand  hills  south  of  the  Platte  from 
Kearney  eastward  several  miles  in  width,  and  on  the  upper  Repub- 


16  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

lican.  The  character  and  origin  of  these  sand  hills  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  the  chapter  on  the  superficial  geology  of  the  State.  Suffice 
it  here  to  say  that  these  sand  hills  are  being  covered  by  the  increas- 
ing rainfall  of  the  State  with  nutritious  grasses,  and  are  becoming 
fine  grazing  grounds.  While  principally  composed  of  sand  they 
also  contain  a  large  amount  of  potash,  soda  and  lime,  and  these 
fertilizers  start  vegetation  as  soon  as  there  is  a  sufficiency  of 
moisture. 

BAD  LANDS. 

The  bad  lands  run  into  northwestern  Nebraska,  but  cover  a  very 
limited  area  mainly  beyond  the  White  River.  They  are  made  up 
of  indurated  sands,  clays  and  marl,  and  occasional  layers  of  thin 
hard  rock.  They  have  been  cut  up  into  deep  canyons  and  ravines 
by  atmospheric  agencies.  The  sides,  until  the  talus  at  the  bottom 
is  reached,  are  often  vertical  and  sometimes  capped  at  the  top  with 
a  hard  rock  that  projects  beyond  the  sides.  Often  without  a  parti- 
cle of  vegetation  the  isolated  cones,  columns  and  peaks  look  in  the 
distance  like  towers,  pyramids,  cathedrals  and  obelisks,  resembling 
the  ruins  of  the  eld  cities  of  the  Orient.  The  geological  age  and 
the  character  of  the  fossil  plants  and  animals  will  be  discussed  in 
the  chapter  on  the  Tertiary  Age. 


CLIMATOLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA.  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

CLIMATOLOGY  OF   NEBRASKA. 

Temperature— Tables  of  Temperature— Mean  Temperature  of  Summer, 
Winter  and  Spring— Bulletins— Autumns— Mean  Temperature  of  the  Year- 
Extremes  of  Temperature— Winds— Storms  of  Winter— Purity  of  the  atmos- 
phere— Ozone. 

THE  factors  that  enter  into  the  determination  of  climate  are  tem- 
perature, forms  of  relief,  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  geo- 
graphical position  and  rainfall.  Before  giving  the  characteristics 
of  the  climate  of  Nebraska,  it  is  important  to  look  at  the  most  im- 
portant facts  that  produce  them.  For  this  purpose  the  following 
meteorlogical  tables  are  introduced. 

TEMPERATURE. 

There  has  been  much  misapprehension  about  the  temperature  of 
Nebraska.  Sometimes  it  has  been  represented  as  possessing  a 
semi-arctic  climate;  and  again  that  its  summers  are  of  a  torrid  char- 
acter. To  show  the  real  facts  in  the  case,  the  following  tables  of 
daily  temperatures  for  a  year  are  given  from  the  reports  of  the  Sig- 
nal Service.  The  stations  are  on  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  three  hundred 
miles  apart,  and  approximate  closely  to  the  mean  temperature  for 
the  whole  State. 

In  addition  to  the  tables  of  the  Signal  Service,  no  exhibit  would 
be  complete  without  the  results  obtained  by  Dr.  A.  S.  Childs,  of 
Plattsmouth,  one  of  the  most  careful,  conscientious  and  accurate 
scientific  observers  in  any  country.  He  has  been  constantly  report- 
ing, first  for  the  Smithsonian  and  then  for  the  Signal  Service,  since 
1 866.  Prior  to  that  year  he  had  also  been  reporting  at  intervals. 
The  tables  prepared  by  him  follow  these  twro  from  the  Signal 
Service. 


18 


PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


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CLIMATOLOGY   OF    NEBRASKA. 


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PHYSIC  A  I,   GEOGRAPHY. 


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CLIMATOLOGY   OF    NEBRASKA. 

TABLE  "B." 


21 


In  the  following  table  we  have  the  mean  temperature  of  the 
seasons  and  years,  as  also  the  total  snow  and  rainfall,  including 
melted  snow. 


Year. 

Seasons. 

Temp, 
of  Seasons. 

Temp,  of  Year 

.    Yearly  Snow. 

Yearly  Rain 
and  Melted  Snow. 

18G6 

Winter 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

19  99° 
47.03° 

72.78° 
49  75° 

17  53° 

11  45  ins. 

4.10  inches. 
8.34 
11  95 
7.31         31  70 

1867 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

20.15° 
39  20° 
74  31° 

52  57° 

4».  l>7° 

35  55 

6  14 
13  17 
9  55 
2.65          31.31 

1868 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

20  83° 
61  53° 
75  13° 
47  00° 

4,-S  84° 

1 
27.20 

2  85 
14  55 
14  36 
6  15          37.85 

1869 

Winter. 

Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

21  61° 
47  75° 
72  44° 
45  10° 

47  42° 

39  00 

5  85 
9  60 
24  55 
7.35          47.35 

1870 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

22  14° 
46  17° 

70  00° 
47.64° 

46  61° 

22  00 

4  60 
9  50 
9.10 
8  90          32.10 

1871 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

22  28° 
49  5-z° 
71.97° 
42  94° 

46  82" 

18  00 

2.25 
4.60 
19.70 
5.70          32.25 

1872 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

22  "81° 
37  80° 
74.22° 
47  71° 

45.69° 

12  80 

1.85 
7.70 
13  00 
8  80          31.35 

1H73 

Winter. 

Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

17  75° 
46  92° 
76  22° 
48  79° 

47.58° 

10  06 

4  30 
35  50 
12  20 
7.45          49  45 

1874 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

20.88° 
48  13° 
78  50° 
51  13° 

49.81° 

J>8  35 

3  80 
9  75 
20  52 
15  04          49  11 

1875 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

15  06° 
45  55° 
71  67° 
47  31° 

45.09° 

29  26 

2  08 
12.48 

28  70 
6.96          50.  t  -2 

1876 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

29.17° 

47.77" 
72  89° 
46  73° 

49  20° 

22  00 

2.10 
10  35 
20  41 
9.88          42.74 

1877 

WTinter. 

Spring. 
S  'miner. 
Fall. 

22  95° 
47  23° 
70  88° 
49  69° 

47.77° 

23  30 

1.81 
14  46 
18  17 
11  18          40.62 

1878 

Winter. 
Spring. 
Summer. 
Fall. 

33.18° 
52  73° 
72  85° 
51  98° 

52  64° 

17  60 

3  57 
12  64 
22  48 
4  78          53  87 

1879 

Winter. 
Spring. 

21  84° 

52  98° 

22.45 

1.89 
10  26 

The  winter  season  in  the  above  table  includes  December,  January 
and  February.     Spring,  the  next  three,  &c. 


22 


PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


TABLE  «  C." 

Gives  the  date  of  each  day,  from  1861  to  1876,  inclusive,  on 
which  the  mercury  of  the  thermometer  has  fallen  below  zero,  as 
also  the  degree.  December  being  taken  as  the  first  month  of  the 
succeeding  civil  year.  The  usual  sign  —  denoting  below  zero. 

TABLE  C. 


1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

1865 

1866 

1867 

1868 

Jan20  -20  Dec23  -  6  Jan  16  -10 
21  -24!        27-3  Feb  2  -10 

Nov27  -  2  NOY22  -  2 
28-9  Dec  7-6 

Dec  5  -10  Decll'-  1 
12  -  6  Jan   1-8 

NOY  9  -  7 
Jan  6-8 

23-3  Jan  9-8          5-5 

29-4 

8  -16 

13  -20 

6-2 

7-2 

24-6:        11  -  » 

Decl4  -  4 

9-7 

14  -16 

9-3 

8-6 

25  -13 

12  -13 

30  -  2 

*10  -10 

15  -15 

21-3 

9-6 

27  -12 

13  -1.2 

31  -24 

11  -14 

16  -10 

26-4 

11-6 

31-6 

14-7 

Jaii  1  --33  Jan  22  -  1 

21  -18 

27  -10 

12-4 

Feb  7-7 

15-8 

2  -151        24  -10 

22  -30 

29  -  1 

15  -19 

8-3 

17  -17 

3-5       25  -10 

28-8 

Feb  8-8 

16  -26 

18-2 

4-4         26  -10  Jan  1(5  ~:5 

9  -1C 

17  -25 

30-7 

5  -10         27-7 

17  -It; 

2;>  -  4 

18  -13 

6  -15         28  -10 

18  -1? 

21  -1( 

20  -  8 

7  -32  Mar  2  -  5|        19  -  8 

23  -  x 

21-8 

8-6 

4      61        20  -;; 

''4  -  \ 

24  -  :$ 

9-8 

9  -17 

21  -  . 

Mar  •>  -  \ 

27  -16 

11  -10 

24  -  i 

13  -:0 

29  -15 

Feb  4  -.0 

14  -  9 

31  -  8 

12  -M 

16  -  1 

Feb   J  -  5 

14  -IX 

17  -  1 

ti  -12 

15  -K 

24  -4 

8  -  r> 

16  -  f 

9  -22 

Marl.'  - 

1!)  -12 

11-3 

28  -10 

•December  10th,  1865,  David  Jardine  Iro/e  to  Deaih. 
T1.BLE  C.— (Continued.) 


1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

Dec  8  -  9 

9-8 

Jan  8  -  7 
16-4 

Dec21  -  4 
22  -11 

Nov29  -  6 
Dec  3-6 

Nov27  -  4 

28  -  1 

Dec  3-1 

20-7 

Dec.28  -  3 
29  -10 

Nov^l  -  1 

29  -  7 

10  -14 

17-7 

23  -16 

4  -12 

29-5 

Jan  4-3 

Jan  2-5 

Decl7  -  8 

11  -30 

18  -13 

24-9 

19-1 

Dec  9  -  3 

14-6 

3-1 

JsnlO  -  2 

23  -  5Febl9  -  8 

26-3 

20-1 

16  -  1 

15  -10 

4  -10 

Feb  1  -12 

24  -  8|        20  -12 

Jan  13-9 

25-6 

20-5 

23  -9 

5  -18 

3  -  1 

Jan25  -  2  Mar  8-2 

14-4 

26-4 

21  -20 

24  -14 

6-8 

4-3 

Feb  4  -10 

14-5 

17-4 

Jan  23  -10 

23  -20 

Feb  9  -  1 

8  -19 

Mar20  -  4 

22-1 

15  -11 

18-7 

24-2 

24  -16 

23-4 

9  -21 

27-7 

Feb  9-7 

25-6 

25  -  3 

24-6 

10-9 

Mar  4-2 

10-2 

27  -  5 

26-8 

12  -11 

6-5 

12  -10 

28  -111        27-10 

13  -20 

15  -  4 

13  -  3 

31  -12!Jan   8-3 

14  -19 

Febl2  -  1           9-9 

15  -10 

13  -  6 

10    14; 

16-1 

14-5 

16  -  8 

18-7 

17  -17 

30  -  3 

18-7 

31  -10 

* 

^4-7 

Feb  2-4 

27  -  8 

3  -12 

28  -23 

4  -21 

29  -14 

6-6 

31  -  7 

7-7 

Feb  1  -10 

8-2 

2-4 

9-2 

20-3 

15  -  1 

22  -  4 

17-9 

23-2 

25-7 

Mar  3-4 

27  -  1 

Mar  3-3 

In  these  sixteen  years  only  twice  as  low  as  32*and  four  times  to  30*. 


CLIMATOLOGY   OF    NEBRASKA.  23 

During  the  same  period  of  19  years,  embraced  in  table  "C,"  the 
mercury  has  risen  to  100°  and  upwards  as  follows: 

1857.  July  15,  102°,  August  5,  100°,  August  13,  101°. 

1859.  July  14,  101°. 

1860.  July  15,  100°,  July  20,  104°,  July  24,  100°. 

1861.  August  3, 100°,  August  4,  104°,  August  5, 104°. 
1866.  July  23,  100°,  August  6,  101°. 

1868.     July  18,  100°,  20,  106°,  21,  100°,  28,  101°. 

1873.  August  30,  101°. 

1874.  July  7,  102°,    8,  105°,  14,  103°,  18,  100°,  23,  104°,  24,   107°,  25, 113», 
31,  110°,  August  9,  100°,  10,  111°,  19,  100°,  21,  102°. 

Dr.  Childs'  remarks  of  the  above  last  two  months  "that  the  heat 
was  unparalleled  on  any  record  made  in  the  United  States." 
During  this  period  of  nineteen  years  eleven  have  passed  without 
raising  the  mercury  to  100  degrees. 

The  force  or  velocity  of  the  wind  is  now  generally  rated  on  a 
scale  of  10,  as  follows: 

1 .  Indicates  a  very  light  breeze  of  2  miles  an  hour. 

2.  Indicates  a  very  gentle  breeze  of  4  miles  an  hour. 

3.  Indicates  a  very  fresh  breeze  of  12  miles  an  hour. 

4.  Indicates  a  very  strong  wind  of  25  miles  an  hour. 

5.  Indicates  a  very  high  wind  of  35  miles  an  hour. 

6.  Indicates  a  gale  of  45  miles  an  hour. 

7.  Indicates  a  very  strong  gale  of  60  miles  an  hour. 

8.  Indicates  a  very  violent  gale  of  75  miles  an  hour. 

9.  Indicates  a  hurricane  of  90  miles  an  hour. 

10.     Indicates  a  most  violent  hurricane  of  100  miles  an  hour. 

This  velocity  is  measured  and  registered  by  rather  a  costly  in- 
strument named  an  anemometer. 

Without  an  anemometer,  the  observer  notes  the  direction  from 
which  the  wind  comes,  and  estimates  its  force  as  i,  2,  3,  and  6. 
This  observation  and  record  is  made  three  times  a  day — the  same  as 
with  other  meteorological  instruments.  In  table  "D,"  I  give  a  sum- 
mary of  these  observations  for  the  year  1874. 


24  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

TABLE  "D." 
Direction  and  force  of  wind  for  the  year  1874. 


N. 

NE. 

E. 

SE. 

S. 

SW. 

W. 

NW. 

Total. 

Dec.  1873  
Jan.  1874  

14 
14 

2 
6 

3 
3 

fi 

n 

11 

14 
•2 

25 
88 

l»6 
135 

February. 

21 

7 

5 

19 

17 

10 

19 

105 

March 

30 

23 

g 

28 

13 

20 

If; 

12 

159 

April  

13 

30 

6 

53 

23 

8 

"    n 

19 

Ih8 

May 

4 

14 

4 

64 

68 

^ 

15 

182 

June  

o 

2 

5 

59 

(53 

10 

g 

13 

160 

July  ... 

g 

6 

27 

26 

74 

15 

10 

172 

August  

21 

6 

55 

37 

26 

7 

1 

4 

157 

September. 

14 

5 

16 

28 

17 

25 

9 

20 

134 

October    

6 

4 

12 

11 

33 

20 

•>5 

128 

25 

2 

6 

5 

43 

22 

7 

31 

141 

Total  

170 

107 

150 

349 

454 

165 

118 

220 

1733 

By  exchanging  the  totals  of  March  and  April,  as  also  by  trans- 
ferring 50  from  the  total  of  south,  to  the  total  of  north,  and  this 
gives  nearly  the  mean  of  ten  years  past. 

Tables  "A,"  «B,"  "C"  and  «D,"  are  all  from  Dr.  Childs.  The 
following  table  of  the  direction  and  force  of  the  wind  is  t.iken  from 
the  report  of  the  Signal  Service.  It  shows  how  many  times  the 
wind  blew  from  the  eight  cardinal  points,  from  July,  1877,  to  July, 
1878. 


Station. 

Wind 

:_ 

I 

I 

1 

G 

1 

g 

| 

be 

V 

| 

s 

C 
w 

>? 

Si 

2 

I 

£ 

Q) 

5 

| 

I 

Z* 

w 

1» 

•5 

3 

9 

3 

1 

w 
O 

1 

ft 

I 

I 

1 

ft 

2 

£ 

ft 

CO 

p 

3 

00 

fl 

I 

r 

N. 

13 

14 

11 

31 

21 

22 

3fi 

33 

19 

18 

14 

12 

51 

39 

63 

81 

N.W. 

13 

17 

12 

14 

23 

18 

22 

10 

18 

19 

19 

17 

56 

47 

49 

50 

W. 

3 

1 

4 

5 

2 

4 

6 

0 

6 

7 

2 

20 

6 

11 

10 

S.  W. 

6 

3 

6 

3 

1 

6 

4 

1 

5 

S 

4 

4 

17 

13 

10 

11 

Omaha  4 

8. 
S.  E 

40 
12 

24 
19 

38 
12 

18 
15 

22 
9 

24 

12 

24 
4 

23 
5 

17 
13 

8 
9 

11 
17 

21 
16 

39 

85 
47 

78 
36 

71 
21 

E. 

2 

7 

2 

2 

6 

2 

8 

3 

3 

8 

19 

6 

30 

15 

10 

8 

-.-        | 

N.E. 

3 

3 

1 

2 

4 

0 

2 

1 

4 

11 

10 

4 

25 

10 

7 

3 

Calm. 

1 

4 

4 

3 

2 

5 

2 

8 

R 

2 

2 

8 

12 

13 

9 

15 

I 

Blank 

9 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

N. 

9 

7 

6 

7 

5 

12 

5 

11 

1 

2 

8 

8 

16 

24 

18 

28 

N.W. 

5 

15 

14 

34 

34 

28 

47 

23 

39 

29 

33 

17 

101 

37 

82 

98 

W. 

5 

2 

8 

8 

16 

19 

12 

12 

11 

3 

3 

21 

10 

32 

43 

S.  W. 

5 

5 

6 

6 

4 

4 

4 

5 

0 

nl 

0 

3 

7 

13 

16 

13 

NorthPlatte- 

S. 

S.  E. 

35 
12 

21 
19 

10 

18 

4 
5 

11 
4 

5 

5 

7 
9 

10 

7 

11 
10 

6 
11 

5 
13 

14 
23 

22 

34 

70 
54 

25 

27 

22 

21 

E. 

9 

12 

8 

7 

5 

10 

3 

3 

11 

11 

18 

7 

40 

28 

20 

16 

N.E. 

11 

11 

19 

19 

9 

8 

4 

11 

9 

12 

12 

14 

33 

36 

47 

23 

ICalm. 

2 

1 

1 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

0 

1 

1 

1 

2 

4 

6 

6 

Blank 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

I 

CLIMATOLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA.  25 

MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  SUMMER. 

From  the  preceding  tables  it  will  b«  seen  that  the  average  mean 
temperature  of  the  summer  months,  that  is  of  June,  July  and  Aug- 
ust, in  Eastern  Nebraska,  is  between  72°  and  74°;  or,  more  accu- 
rately, close  to  73°.  At  North  Platte  it  averages  slightly  higher. 
Now,  the  summer  isotherm  of  72°  starts  about  one-third  of  the 
distance  north  of  the  south  line  of  New  Jersey,  runs  northwest 
till  it  strikes  the  Appalachians  in  Pennsylvania,  then  goes  south 
and  west,  appearing  again  a  little  south  of  the  east  edge  of  Ohio, 
and  from  there  keeps  a  westerly  direction  until  it  strikes  the  Mis- 
souri near  Sioux  City.  There  it  follows  the  Missouri  around  its 
big  bend  in  Northeastern  Nebraska  and  into  Dakota  Territory, 
until  it  reaches  almost  to  the  46th  parallel.  From  this  last  point 
it  again  moves  a  little  south  of  west,  passing  through  a  small  cor- 
ner of  Northwestern  Nebraska,  and  thence  on  to  Fort  Laramie, 
and  thence  southward,  mainly  near  to  or  along  the  foothills,  until 
the  loftier  regions  of  Mexico  are  reached. 

The  summer  isotherm  of  76°  is  almost  parallel  with  the  last, 
passing  through  Northern  Kansas,  but  not  reaching  the  State 
line.  Included  between  these  two  isotherms  is  a  large  part  of 
Southern  New  Jersey,  Southern  Pennsylvania,  the  southern  half 
of  Ohio,  a«d  the  greater  part  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  the  southern 
half  of  Iowa,  and  the  whole  of  Nebraska  except  a  very  small 
patch  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  State.  Kentucky,  Vir- 
ginia, Maryland  and  Delaware  are  also  necessarily  included  be- 
tween these  isotherms.  Nebraska,  therefore,  has  a  mean  summer 
temperature  considerably  higher  than  States  in  the  East  in  the 
same  latitudes.  There  are  some  advantages  in  this  high  summer 
temperature,  particularly  in  fruit  culture.  It  is  well  known,  for 
example,  that  some  of  the  finest  grapes  only  mature  where  the 
summer  temperature  is  from  68°  to  72°.  Our  fine  soils  and  nat- 
ural drainage,  therefore,  would  be  without  avail  were  it  not  that 
these  conditions  are  complemented  by  a  high  mean  summer  tem- 
perature. 

THE  MEAN  WINTER  TEMPERATURE. 

The  winter  months  are  regarded  as  embracing  December,  Jan- 
uary and  February.  The  mean  isochimal,  or  line  of  equal  mean 
temperature  of  20°,  according  to  the  Smithsonian  Reports,  includes 
the  south  half  of  the  State,  and  the  northeastern  portion  as  far  as 


26  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

one  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Missouri.  This  line  enters  the 
State  near  its  northwest  corner,  and  then  passing  southeast,  and 
then  in  an  easterly  direction,  slightly  north  of  a  line  half  way  be- 
tween the  Platte  and  the  north  line  of  the  State  until  it  reaches 
within  about  one  hundred  miles  of  the  Missouri.  It  then  makes 
an  angle,  turning  to  the  northwest,  and  mainly  keeping  that  direc- 
tion until  it  strikes  the  mouth  of  the  White  Earth  River.  Cross- 
ing Northern  Iowa,  it  strikes  the  northwest  corner  of  Illinois,  then 
turns  northeast  to  Green  Bay,  and  thence  to  the  coast  by  way  of 
the  Straits  of  Mackinaw.  From  this  it  appears  that  all  of  Ne- 
braska, except  the  small  part  north  and  west  of  the  line  just  de- 
scribed, has  an  average  temperature  like  Northern  Illinois  and 
Ohio.  The  portion  north  and  west  of  the  line  described  has  a 
mean  winter  temperature  slightly  lower,  if  the  Smithsonian  data 
can  be  trusted.  The  number  of  observations,  however,  on  which 
this  isochimal  line  was  based  through  Northern  Nebraska  were  no- 
toriously few  and  imperfect.  My  own  conviction  is  that  future, 
more  perfect  data  will  assign  the  whole  of  Northern  Nebraska  to 
at  least  the  isochimal  line  of  20°. 

MEAN  TEMPERATURE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  SPRING. 

The  next  season  of  greatest  interest  is  that  of  spring.  What  in 
other  words  is  the  mean  temperature  of  March,  April  and  May  ? 
The  best  exhibit  of  the  spring  temperature  is  found  in  Dr.  Childs' 
table,  "  B."  From  that  it  is  seen  that  the  mean  temperature  of 
spring  for  the  last  ten  years  was  47°,  47'.  The  reports  of  the 
Signal  Offices  at  Omaha  and  North  Platte  do  not  differ  materially 
from  this  determination.  The  Nebraska  Weather  Service,  inaug- 
urated first  by  Prof.  Bailey,  and  now  conducted  by  Prof.  Thomp- 
son, Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  gives  the  following 
bulletins  for  the  spring  months  confirmatory  of  the  above,  with 
additional  facts  of  great  importance : 

Bulletin  for  March. — "  Highest  temperature  recorded,  92°  at 
Palmyra,  at  2  p.   M.,  on  the  2yth;   lowest  21°,  at  Desota,  on  the 
1 4th.     Average  noon  observations  for  the  whole  State,  52°.     Low 
est  noon  temperature  15°,  on   the    ist.     Highest  noon  temperature 
92°,  on  the  27th.     Average  of  all  the  observations  gives  the  tern 
perature  of  the    ist  at  20°,  and  of  the  2yth  at  86°.     Four  stations 
report  over  an   inch  of  rainfall,  viz.:    Weeping  Water,  1.25  of  an 


CLIMATOLOGY   OF   NEBRASKA.  27 

inch;  Sterling,  1.08;  Desota,  1.43;  Logan  Valley,  1.04.  Average 
of  all  stations  east  of  6th  principal  meridian,  ^  of  an  inch.  West 
of  that  line,  i-io  of  an  inch.  March,  1878,  had  more  than  three 
times  that  amount.  Wild  geese  first  seen  in  Cedar  County  on  the 
4th,  at  Kearney  on  the  yth.  Adder's  tongue  in  bloom  at  Table 
Rock  on  the  3Oth.  Meadow  larks  seen  at  Logan  Valley  in  Cedar 
County  on  the  23d;  plover  and  curlew  on  the  25th.  Prevailing 
winds  of  the  month  from  the  northwest  and  westerly  points,  but 
considerable  also  from  the  southeast." 

S.  R.  THOMPSON,  Director. 

Bulletin  for  April,  1879: — "  Highest  noon  temperature  re- 
ported from  several  stations,  84°;  lowest,  29°,  at  Logan  Valley, 
Cedar  County.  Noon  observations  average  60°.  Rainfall  for  all 
stations  east  of  6th  principal  meridian  average  2  inches;  west  of  that 
line  2^/3  inches.  Minden  Station  reports  9.93  inches.  As  there  may 
be  some  mistake  about  this,  it  is  not  included  in  the  averages.  Rain- 
fall of  April,  '79,  almost  the  same  as  April  '78  It  seemed  drier 
this  year  because  at  the  beginning  of  April,  1878,  the  ground  was 
very  moist,  while  in  1879  it  was  comparatively  dry.  Prevailing 
winds  from  southeast.  Plums  in  bloom  on  the  loth,  in  the  north 
part  of  the  State;  peaches  on  i9th;  apple  trees  on  23d.  Box 
elders  in  leaf  on  28th.  Vegetation  several  weeks  later  than  last 
year."  S.  R.  THOMPSON,  Director. 

Bulletin  for  June,  1879: — Temperature — The  highest  noon 
temperature  was  100°,  reported  at  Humboldt,  Richardson  County. 

The  highest  at  no  station  was  less  than  87° ;  generally  it  was 
above  90°. 

The  lowest  was  50°  reported  from  Weeping  Water.  The  gen- 
eral report  averaged  about  60°  for  the  lowest  noon  observation. 

Light  frost  on  the  night  of  the  ist,  at  Inavale,  Webster  County, 
also  at  Kearney  on  night  of  the  2d. 

Rainfall — During  first  ten  days  of  the  month  the  rainfall  was 
very  slight;  from  many  stations  none  at  all  are  reported.  During 
the  two  last  decades — ten  days — the  rainfall  was  abundant  and 
evenly  distributed.  The  average  of  all  stations  reported  east  of  the 
sixth  principal  meridian  is  4.88  inches,  and  for  all  west  of  that  line 
5.46  inches.  The  greatest  fall  reported  at  any  one  station  east  was 
at  Mission  Creek,  Pawnee  County,  being  8.25  inches,  and  the 
smallest  amount  reported  was  at  Palmyra,  Otoe  County,  it  being 


28  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

3.07.  The  largest  fall  reported  west  was  at  Minden,  Kearney 
County,  which  was  10.30  inches,  and  the  smallest  fall  was  near 
Genoa,  Platte  County,  it  being  3.25  inches.  The  average  for  the 
State  was  just  5  inches. 

Prevailing  winds  were  from  the  south  and  southeast. 

June  loth  a  severe  storm  reported  from  Inavale;  high  wind  with 
hail  and  rain;  injuring  crops  and  destroying  buildings.  Storm  of 
June  25th  was  severe  in  many  parts  of  the  State,  the  wind  doing 
some  damage  to  buildings  and  beating  down  the  corn. 

Crops — General  reports  very  encouraging.  Wheat  damaged  in 
some  localities  by  chinch  bugs.  S.  R.  THOMPSON,  Director. 

From  the  preceding  bulletins  the  general  character  of  the  spring 
months  can  be  determined.  March  is  often  characterized,  as  else- 
where, by  frequently  changing  winds  and  sudden  rises  and  falls  of 
temperature.  Pleasant  weather  sets  in  in  April.  The  genial  sun- 
shine and  the  bursting  into  life  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  in  this 
stimulating  climate  renders  this  a  most  inspiring  season. 

AUTUMNS. 

Nothing  in  the  Nebraska  climate  is  more  notable  than  its  pe- 
culiar, long,  mild,  dry  autumns.  It  can  be  seen  from  Dr.  Childs' 
exhibit  that  the  average  temperature  for  the  ten  years  end- 
ing with  1875,  for  September  was  62°  20',  and  for  October  50°  64', 
and  for  November  35°  61'.  The  average  for  the  entire  three 
months  for  the  ten  years  ending  in  1875  is  49°  49'.  The  signal 
service  reports  the  temperature  at  Omaha  for  September,  1878, 
as  66°  6',  and  for  October,  51°  i',  and  at  North  Platte  for  the  same 
year,  for  September,  64°  6',  and  for  October  44°  6\  It  will  also 
be  observed  that  excessive  rains  seldom  fall  during  these  months. 
The  autumns  are  therefore  exceedingly  mild  and  long.  Some- 
times there  is  a  short  rough  spell  in  October,  but  almost  univer- 
sally it  is  followed  by  mild  weather  which  is  often  prolonged  into 
December,  and  has  been  known  to  last  till  January.  These 
long  "Indian  Summers"  are  here,  even  more  than  elsewhere 
characterized  by  a  curious  haze  which  mellows  the  light  of  the 
sun.  It  has  the  curious  effect  on  "high  strung"  natures  of  rousing 
the  poetic  sensibilities,  and  giving  the  weird  shadowy  experi- 
ences of  dream  land.  It  is  a  most  favorable  season  for  toil,  mental 
and  physical.  The  numberless  things  to  be  done  on  the  farm 
become,  during  this  season,  almost  a  pastime  to  the  agriculturist. 
Existence  to  a  healthy  body  now  is  a  pleasure  and  toil  a  delight. 


CLIMATOLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA.  29 

MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  WHOLE  YEAR. 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  whole  year  in  Nebraska,  not- 
withstanding the  extreme  cold  of  winter,  is  remarkably  high. 
The  mean  yearly  isotherm  of55°,  for  example,  which  passes 
through  Washington,  D.  C.,  Cincinnati,  and  southern  Iowa, 
strikes  the  Missouri  River  a  little  south  of  Nebraska  City, 
and  then  moving  a  little  north  of  west  crosses  the  Platte 
near  Columbus,  and  thence  in  a  northwesterly  direction  across 
the  State.  This  mean  annual  isotherm  therefore  embraces 
over  one-half  of  the  State.  The  mean  yearly  isotherm  of  52^° 
which  passes  through  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  crossing  the  centre 
of  Iowa  diagonally,  strikes  the  Missouri  River  above  Sioux  City, 
thence  following  the  river  for  some  distance  takes  in  the  whole  of 
Nebraska  not  included  in  the  yearly  isotherm  of  55°.  The  yearly 
isotherm  of  57^°  passes  south  of  Nebraska.  A  portion  of  south- 
ern and  southwestern  Nebraska  is  therefore  included  between  the 
yearly  isotherms  of  571^°  and  55°  and  the  balance  between  55° 
and  52^°. 

EXTREMES  OF  TEMPERATURE. 

In  Dr.  Childs'  record  (Table)  ofnineteen  years  the  mercury 
rose  to  100°  F.,  and  upwards,  twenty-nine  times,  or  on  an  av- 
erage a  little  more  than  a  day  and  a  half  a  year.  The  hot- 
test year  was  that  of  1874,  when  in  July  and  August,  the 
thermometer  rose  to  100°  and  upwards  on  twelve  different 
days.  On  July  I3th  it  rose  to  113°,  it  being  the  hottest  day  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Childs'  record,  in  nineteen  years. 

In  table  C,  it  will  be  seen  how  many  days  during  the  time  from 
1 86 1  to  1876,  the  mercury  fell  below  zero.  It  will  also  be  seen  from 
this  record  that  while  the  mean  temperature  of  Nebraska  is  high 
for  a  region  in  these  latitudes,  its  extremes  are  great.  And  yet  no 
acute  suffering  or  other  ill  consequences  flow  from  it.  As  we  will 
hereafter  see,  the  heat  of  summer  is  modified  by  the  breezes  that 
fan  the  land.  On  the  other  hand,  the  severe  cold  of  the  extreme 
days  of  winter  are  made  endurable  by  the  dry  ness  of  the  atmos- 
phere. The  dryness  is  so  great  and  potent  that  the  cold  is  not  felt 
here  more  when  the  thermometer  marks  twenty  degrees  below 
than  it  is  in  Pennsylvania  when  only  at  zero.  The  reason  of  this 
is  well  understood.  It  is  moisture  that  intensifies  the  sensation  of 
chilliness.  Every  one  knows  the  meaning  of  a  drizzly,  chilly  day. 
It  is  because  the  atmosphere  in  the  east  is  more  filled  with  moisture 


30  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

that  makes  the  sensation  and  effect  of  cold  so  much  more  severe 
there  than  here.  It  is  owing  to  this  fact  also  that  a  temperature 
which  is  fatal  to  fruit  buds  in  the  east  has  no  effect  on  them  here. 

THE  WINDS  OF  NEBRASKA. 

The  atmosphere  is  rarely  quiescent  in  Nebraska.     While    hur- 
ricanes are  very    rare,  storms  are  more  frequent   in    winter,   and 
gentle    zephyrs    and    winds    are    almost    constant.     These    great- 
ly   modify  the  heat  of  summer    and  the   cold  of  winter.     When 
the    thermometer  is    up    among    the    nineties,    even    a    south    or 
southwest   wind    makes    the    weather    endurable.     At    this    high 
temperature    the    atmosphere    is    almost    certain    to  be   in    per- 
ceptible motion  from  some  direction.     By  reference  to  table  D  of 
Dr.  Childs'  and  the  report  of  the  U.  S.  Signal  Office  on  winds,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  prevailing  winds  in  the  winter  are  from  the 
north  and  northwest.     With  the  coming  of  Spring  there  is  a  great 
change  in  this  respect.     The  winds  veer  around  and  a  strong  cur- 
rent sets  in  from  the  south,  blowing  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  but 
entering  the  interior  is  deflected  by  the  earth's  motion  and  becomes 
a  southwest  wind.     This  remains  the  prevailing  wind  during  the 
whole  of  summer,  and  often  until  late  in  autumn.     It  sometimes 
happens  that  this  southwest  wind  commences  to  blow  during  the 
coldest  days  of  winter,  when  the  curious  phenomenon  is  observed 
of  snow  melting  when  the  thermometer  is  at,  a    little  above,  or 
even  below  zero.     This  of  course  is  caused   by  the  temperature  of 
the  coming  current  of  air  being  much  higher  than  that  of  the  place. 
This  character  of  north  and  northwest  winds  in  winter,  and  south 
and  southwest  winds  in  summer,  with  some  local  exceptions  is  the 
dominant  character  of  the  atmospheric    movements   between  the 
Mississippi  and  the  mountains,  and  the  gulf  to  an  unknown  dis- 
tance north. 

THE  STORMS  OF  WINTER. 

From  no  cause  has  Nebraska,  in  company  with  Iowa  and 
Kansas  suffered  more  in  popular  estimation  than  from  the  re- 
puted severity  and  frequency  of  its  storms.  And  yet  they 
occur  at  comparatively  long  intervals.  During  one-half  the 
years  none  'are  experienced  of  any  severity,  and  when  they  do 
come  the  laws  that  govern  their  occurrence  are  so  well  understood 
by  at  least  the  older  citizens  of  the  State  that  little  damage  is 
suffered  from  them.  One  of  the  laws  of  their  occurrence  is  their 
periodicity.  When  the  first  one  of  the  season  comes  whether  it  is, 


CLIMATOLOGY   OF   NEBRASKA.  31 

in  November,  December  or  January,  a  similar  one  is  almost  sure 
to  occur  within  a  few  days  of  a  month  from  the  first.  Those 
whose  necessities  therefore  or  business  calls  them  out  during  the 
winter  season  need  only  note  the  date  of  the  first  to  know  when  to 
guard  against  the  next.  It  is  rare,  however,  that  more  than  one  of 
these  periodical  storms  is  of  great  severity. 

When  the  storms  commence  they  are  rarely  heralded  by  any- 
thing except  areas  of  low  barometer.  Even  this  warning  is  some- 
times absent.  The  wind  generally  blows  gently  at  first  from  the 
north,  northeast  or  northwest.  It  is  often  preceded  and  accompa- 
nied by  a  fall  of  fine  snow.  Sometimes  the  storm  of  wind  does 
not  commence  till  the  snowfall  has  ceased.  The  wind  gradually 
increases  in  intensity,  accompanied  by  a  falling  thermometer.  Its 
violence  increases  until  the  snow  is  blown  into  huge  drifts,  and 
sometimes  all  that  fell  during  several  days  seems  mingled  with  the 
atmosphere,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  recognize  roads,  or  even  the 
points  of  the  compass.  Progression  becomes  impossible  except  in 
the  same  direction  with  the  wind.  This  is  an  extreme  case,  but  a 
truthful  one,  and  fortunately  of  rare  occurrence.  Such  storms  last 
from  one  to  three. days,  and  a  few  instances  are  on  record  where 
they  have  lasted  five  days.  When  the  wind  ceases  to  blow  the 
thermometer  reaches  its  lowest  point,  and  the  intensest  cold  that 
occurs  in  these  latitudes  is  experienced.  In  a  few  days  the  ther- 
mometer rises,  the  weather  becomes  moderate  and  pleasant,  and  all 
about  the  storm  is  apt  to  be  forgotten.  So  mild  does  the  weather 
often  become  in  December  and  January  between  these  storms,  that 
men  work  in  the  open  air  in  their  shirt-sleeves.  This  is  what 
often  deceives  the  unwary,  and  especially  new  comers.  I  have 
known  men,  starting  off  in  new  settlements  for  loads  of  woodr 
going  in  their  shirt-sleeves  with  a  single  coat  in  reserve  in  the 
wagon,  to  be  caught  in  such  storms,  and  losing  their  way,  to  per- 
ish. Proper  observation  and  care  as  we  have  seen  would  avoid 
such  suffering  and  disaster.  Notwithstanding,  however,  these 
storms  of  winter,  there  are  many  more  days  here  during  winter 
when  men  can  work  comfortably  in  the  open  air  than  in  the  East. 

CLEARNESS  AND  PURITY  OF  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

A  number  of  circumstances  combine  to  make  the  atmosphere  of 
Nebraska  exceptionally  pure  and  clear.  Its  mean  elevation  of 
2,312  feet  above  the  sea,  its  general  slope  towards  the  east  and 


32  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

south,  its  distance  from  the  sea,  the  constant  motion  of  its  atmos- 
phere, the  general  character  of  its  finely  silicious  soil  and  perfect 
natural  drainage,  and  its  general  freedom  from  swamps,  bogs  and 
sloughs,  all  combine  to  give  the  State  the  purest  possible  atmos- 
phere. Its  constant  breezes  sweep  away  or  mingle  with  the  gen- 
eral current  of  the  atmosphere  such  impurities  as  may  have  been 
generated  from  any  cause.  Only  during  the  Indian  summer  of 
autumn  is  there  a  haze  that  obscures  distant  objects.  Fogs  seldom 
occur.  It  is  remarkable  at  how  great  a  distance'  objects  can  usually 
be  seen.  Often  when  a  bluff  is  ascended  the  larger  limbs  of  a  tree 
can  be  counted  from  eight  to  twelve  miles  distant.  Objects  univer- 
sally appear  to  be  much  nearer  than  they  really  are,  to  strangers 
coming  from  the  East.  I  have  sometimes  been  amused  to  see  them 
going  through  the  same  experience  that  befell  me  during  my  first 
residence  here — the  experience  of  shooting  at  prairie  chickens 
when  they  were  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  under  the  supposition  ^that 
they  were  close  by.  Only  gradually  does  the  eye  get  accustomed 
to  measure  distances  in  such  a  clear  and  rare  atmosphere.  In  fact, 
judging  from  the  European  meteorological  reports,  the  atmosphere 
of  Nebraska  is  as  clear,  and  much  purer,  than  trje  far-famed  skies 
of  Italy  and  Greece. 

Owing  to  this  pureness  of  the  atmosphere,  clouds,  when  formed, 
are  exceptionally  clearly  out  lined.  They  stand  out  as  most  con- 
spicuous objects  in  the  sky.  Nothing  can  surpass  their  evening  or 
morning  splendors.  The  sunsets  are  remarkable  for  the  brightness 
and  variety  of  their  coloring.  I  have  seen  many  magnificent  sun- 
sets in  the  mountains,  but  never  anything  to  compare  for  extent, 
coloring,  form  and  grandeur,  with  those  that  so  often  occur  on  the 
rolling  prairies  of  Nebraska. 

Another  prominent  feature  of  the  Nebraska  atmosphere  is  the 
allotropic  form,  called  ozone,  that  oxygen  so  constantly  assumes. 
The  amount  of  this  in  the  atmosphere  is  very  much  greater  than 
in  the  East.  During  1869  and  1870,  while  engaged  almost  con- 
stantly in  traveling  and  exploring  over  Northern  Nebraska,  I  car- 
ried with  me  much  of  the  time  the  so-called  Shoenbein  test  papers.* 
These  turned  blue  in  a  short  time  when  exposed,  thus  indicating 
the  presence  of  ozone  in  the  atmosphere.  This  rarely  occurs  in 
the  East,  and  even  but  slightly  after  a  thunder-storm.  Many  other 


*Paper  moistened  with  a  solution  of  potassium  iodide  and  starch,  and  kept   until  wanted  for 
use,  in  a  tightly-stoppered  bottle. 


CLIMATOLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA.  33 

experiments  were   made,  all  indicating  that  the  atmosphere  was 
exceptionally  rich  in  ozone. 

The  cause  of  this  condition  of  our  atmosphere  is  probably  two- 
fold. First,  it  is  due  to  the  comparative  dryness  of  the  atmosphere. 
Second,  it  also  results  from  the  highly  electric  condition  of  the  at- 
mosphere. The  greater  the  elevation,  other  things  being  equal, 
the  more  abundant  is  the  electricity  (Tyndall).  A  friction  electric 
machine  can  be  charged  here  on  almost  any  day  in  the  year  with 
ease.  In  the  East  during  much  of  the  time  this  cannot  be  done. 
Now,  one  of  the  most  potent  of  all  agencies  for  the  formation  of 
ozone  is  the  silent  discharge  of  electricity  through  oxygen,  or 
through  the  atmosphere  which  is  in  part  composed  of  oxygen 
(Barker).  In  fact,  as  Barker  has  shown  in  practice,  there  is  no 
agent  so  efficient  for  the  formation  of  ozone  as  Siemer's  Tube, 
through  which  there  is  a  constant  silent  discharge  of  electricity 
from  a  Ruhmkorff  coil.  Now,  through  our  dry  atmosphere,  there 
is  a  constant  electric  discharge,  which  generates  ozone  in  immense 
quantities.  The  bearing  of  ozone  on  the  question  of  health  will 
be  considered  under  another  head. 


34  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CLIMATE  CONTINUED. 
MOISTURE  AND  RAINFALL. 

Abundance  of  Moisture — The  Rainy  Season — Decrease  Towards  the  West 
— Vapor  in  the  Atmosphere — Rain  Charts  and  their  Explanation — Excep- 
tional Conditions  of  Rainfall  in  the  Niobrara  Region  and  its  Cause — Compara- 
tive Estimates  with  Europe. 

T^  ASTERN  Nebraska  has  an  abundance  of  moisture.  This  may 
lj  appear  like  an  exaggeration  to  those  who  were  educated  to  be- 
lievethat  Nebraska  was  an  arid  region.  And  yet  there  is  nothing  in 
the  natural  history  of  the  State  better  established  than  that  there  is 
here  an  abundance  of  rainfall. 

When  the  snows  of  winter  disappear  the  ground  is  in  good  con- 
dition to  be  worked.  Sufficient  showers  come  during  early  spring 
to  excite  the  crops  of  cereal  grains,  grasses  and  corn  to  an  active 
growth.  Sometimes  it  is  comparatively  dry  between  the  spring 
showers  and  the  June  rains.  These  come  sometimes  earlier  than 
June — in  the  last  of  May,  and  sometimes  not  till  the  last  of  June 
and  constitute  the  rainy  season  for  the  State.  It  begins  whenever 
the  "big  rise"  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Platte  occur.  This  rainy 
season  lasts  from  four  to  eight  weeks.  In  fifteen  years  I  have  not 
known  it  to  fail.  During  its  continuance  it  does  not  indeed  rain 
every  day,  except  occasionally  for  a  short  period.  Generally  during 
this  period  it  rains  from  two  to  three  times  a  week.  It  is  more  apt 
to  rain  every  night  than  every  clay.  In  fact  during  the  whole  of 
this  season  three-fourths  of  the  rain  falls  at  night.  It  is  not  an 
unusual  occurrence  for  rain  to  fall  every  night  for  weeks,  fol- 
lowed by  cloudless  days.  This  rainy  season  of  June  occurs  at  a 
period  when  crops  most  need  rain,  and  owing  to  the  regularity  of 
its  occurrence,  drouths  sufficiently  severe  to  destroy  the  crops  in 
eastern  Nebraska,  \vhere  there  is  proper  cultivation,  have  not  yet 
been  known.  Even  in  1874,  when  the  drouth  in  some  parts  of  the 
State  was  damaging,  there  were  some  fields  of  corn  that  produced 


CLIMATOLOGY   OF   NEBRASKA. 


35 


good  crops  where  the  majority  were  failures.  The  successful  fields 
were  the  ones  that  were  well  and  deeply  cultivated.  After  the  wet 
season  of  June,  which  sometimes  extends  into  July,  is  over,  there 
are  rains  and  showers  at  longer  intervals  until  and  during  autumn. 
During  winter  it  rarely  rains.  Snow  falls  in  winter,  but  seldom  to 
a  great  depth.  The  snows  generally  range  in  depth  from  one  to 
ten  inches  and  in  a  few  extreme  cases  to  fifteen  inches.  During 
the  majority  of  winters,  as  can  be  seen  from  Dr.  Childs'  table  A, 
no  snows  fall  over  eight  inches  in  depth. 

West  of  the  looth  meridian  the  amount  of  rainfall  gradually 
decreases  from  the  yearly  average  of  thirty  inches,  at  or  near 
Kearney  Junction  to  twenty  inches  at  North  Platte.  If  the  last 
two  years  only  were  taken  into  the  account,  even  there  and  almost 
to  the  west  line  of  the  State  the  rainfall  would  be  estimated  at 
thirty  inches.  It  will  hardly  as  yet  average  that  much  for  ten 
years,  though  for  reasons  stated  hereafter  there  will  be  that 
amount  of  rainfall  over  western  Nebraska  in  the  near  future. 

Even  the  relative  amount  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere  is  high. 
This  is  evident  from  the  reports  of  the  Signal  Service  at  Omaha 
and  North  Platte.  It  reports  as  much  vapor  on  an  average  in  the 
atmosphere  at  Omaha  as  exists  in  the  States  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  At  North  Platte  which  represents  western  Nebraska,  the 
atmosphere  contains  a  comparatively  large  amount  of  vapor.  The 
following  table,  taken  from  the  report  of  the  Signal  office  for  the 
year  ending  June  3Oth,  1878,  gives  the  vapor  in  the  atmosphere  for 
each  month. 

Monthly  and  annual  mean  relative  humidity;  from  observations  taken  at  7  a.  m., 

2  and  9  p.  wi.,  &c. 


N.  Platte. 

Omaha. 

July,  1877  

Pr  Cent. 
47.  2 

Pr  Cent. 
02.4 

August,  1877                                                          ..          

57.5 

«G7  4 

September,  1877                    

52.9 

09.0 

October,  1877  

04.8 

73.6 

November   1877                                    

64.3 

73.7 

December,  1877      '  

08.4 

77.8 

January   1878                                               

08.4 

78  6 

February   1878                     .       

00.3 

73.1 

March    1878                                                      

01  4 

64  8 

April    1878        ;                            ;             

54.5 

59.8 

May    1878               

04.4 

63.6 

June    1878                                          

09.7 

71.1 

Annual  Means  

01.0 

09.0 

36  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

In  addition  to  the  preceding  table  it  may  be  repeated  here,  that 
according  to  Dr.  Childs'  tables  the  amount  of  rainfall  during  the 
year  ending  November  3oth,  1877,  was  40.62  inches;  for  the  year 
ending  November  3oth,  1878,  was  53.87  inches.  The  average  for 
the  ten  years  ending  November  3Oth,  1878,  was  42.86  inches. 

In  order  to  exhibit  the  areas  of  certain  quantities  of  rainfall  to 
the  eye,  I  have  constructed  the  following  rain  charts  for  the  State. 
The  first  chart  gives  the  average  rainfall  during  the  ten  years  ending 
November  3Oth,  1868.  The  second  gives  the  average  rainfall  for  the 
ten  years  ending  November  3Oth,  1878.  In  constructing  these 
charts  I  have  availed  myself  of  all  the  Smithsonian  Reports,  the 
Signal  Office  Reports,  and  my  own  observations  of  fifteen  years. 
It  will  be  seen  that  my  results  are  very  different  from  those  hitherto 
obtained  by  an  exclusive  dependence  on  the  Smithsonian  Reports. 
By  comparing  these  two  maps  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  con- 
stant increase  of  rainfall  in  the  State. 

Chart  No.  I. — This  chart  gives  the  areas  where  a  certain  aver- 
age amount  of  rainfall  occurred  from  1859  to  1869.  The  rainfall 
during  the  years  nearest  to  1859  had  less,  and  the  years  nearest  to 
1869  had  more  than  that  indicated  on  the  chart.  In  other  words, 
the  amount  of  rainfall  towards  1869  approximated  already  closely 
to  that  of  the  next  period.  These  facts,  however,  cannot  be  ex- 
hibited on  the  diagram. 

From  the  Missouri  River  in  Eastern  Nebraska  to  a  line  running 
across  the  State  from  north  to  south,  from  above  Dakota  City  and 
near  to  Sioux  City  on  the  Iowa  side,  the  average  rainfall  during 
these  ten  years  was  thirty  inches.  From  this  line  to  another  that 
starts  near  the  mouth  of  the  Bow  River  in  Cedar  County,  and 
which  runs  a  little  west  of  south  to  near  Kearney  Junction,  and 
then  southeasterly  to  a  point  on  the  State  line  half  way  between 
the  Blue  and  Republican  rivers,  the  rainfall  for  the  same  time  was 
twenty-six  inches.  The  next  line  west  of  this  starts  a  little  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara,  and  crosses  the  State  diagonally  to  a 
point  a  little  east  of  North  Platte.  The  space  enclosed  between 
this  line  and  the  preceding  received  a  rainfall  during  this  period 
that  averaged  twenty  inches.  The  next  line  west  of  the  last  starts 
about  longitude  101°,  runs  southwest  until  it  strikes  the  Niobrara, 
and  then  southerly  until  it  reaches  the  south  line  of  the  State  oppo- 
site Big  Springs.  An  average  yearly  rainfall  of  sixteen  inches  fell 
here  during  this  same  period.  West  of  this  line  the  average  rain- 


CLIMATOLOGY   OF   NEBRASKA. 


37 


ANNUAL  AVERRGE  RAINFALL  FROM  1859  TO  1869, 


ANNUAL  AVERAGE  RAINFALL  FROM  1869  TO  1879 


38  PHYSICAL   GEOGKAPHY. 

fall  was  not  determined,  but  it  could  not  differ  much  from  the  pre- 
ceding space. 

Chart  No.  2. — On  this  chart  we  have  the  mean  annual  rainfall 
between  1869  and  1879.  Along  the  Missouri,  as  far  west  as  to  the 
line  which  starts  near  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Sioux  River,  and 
crosses  the  State  southerly  and  then  southwesterly,  and  then  a 
little  east  of  south  until  it  strikes  the  south  line  of  the  State  where 
the  Blue  River  emerges  from  it,  over  this  space  the  mean  annual 
rainfall  during  this  period  was  thirty-eight  inches.  Closer  to  the 
river  the  rainfall  was  still  greater.  Between  this  last  line  and  the 
next  which  starts  on  the  Missouri  a  little  south  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Bow  River,  runs  diagonally  in  a  curve  until  near  Kearney,  and 
then  south  to  the  south  line  of  the  State,  this  section  thus  bounded 
receives  an  average  annual  rainfall  of  thirty-two  inches.  West  of 
this  last  line  there  is  another,  which  starts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ni- 
obrara,  curves  southwesterly  to  a  point  a  little  east  of  North  Platte, 
and  then  slightly  southwest  to  a  point  a  little  west  of  Culbertson, 
on  the  Republican  River.  An  average  annual  rainfall  of  twenty- 
six  inches  covers  the  space  bounded  by  these  lines.  The  next  line 
west  commences  on  the  north  line  of  the  State  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Keya  Paha,  runs  southwest  across  the  State,  striking  the  south  line 
half  way  between  Culbertson  and  the  west  line  of  the  State.  The 
space  between  this  line  and  the  last  receives  an  average  annual 
rainfall  of  nineteen  inches.  Between  this  line  and  the  next  west, 
which  starts  a  little  east  of  the  101°  meridian,  runs  in  a  curve  south- 
westerly to  a  point  near  Lodge  Pole,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  then  south  to  the  south  line  of  the  State.  The  space  bounded  by 
this  and  the  last  line  receives  an  average  annual  rainfall  of  seventeen 
inches.  West  of  this  line  the  rainfall  is  not  definitely  determined, 
but  it  probably  does  not  differ  materially  from  the  preceding  sec- 
tion. It  should  be  remembered  in  examining  these  charts,  that 
towards  each  line  the  amount  of  rainfall  shades  into  the  next  di- 
vision. 

EXCEPTIONAL  METEOROLOGICAL  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  NIOBRARA 

REGION. 

In  Chapter  I.,  some  exceptional  physical  features  were  noted  in 
the  Niobrara  region.  These  exceptional  physical  features  no  doubt 
help  to  produce  the  exceptional  meteorological  conditions.  Of  late 
years  more  than  formerly,  in  these  sections  during  June,  July  and 


CLIMATOLOGY   OF    NEBRASKA.  39 

August,  there  are  almost  daily  thunder-showers.  There  is  little 
snowfall  in  winter,  but  when  the  hot  weather  approaches  these 
storms  are  almost  constant.  Every  time  it  has  been  my  fortune  to 
be  there,  every  day  there  was  a  thunder-storm,  and  on  some  days 
several.  The  morning  sun  would  appear  with  wonderful  clearness, 
and  the  heat  would  become  intense  by  two  o'clock,  and  then  in  a  few 
minutes  clouds  would  form  and  thunder  peal.  After  the  outpouring 
of  the  clouds,  which  generally  lasted  from  thirty  minutes  to  an 
hour,  the  clouds  would  vanish  and  the  sun  appear.  Frequently 
there  was  another  thunder-shower  during  the  early  hours  of  the 
night. 

The  cause  of  these  frequent  showers  appears  to  me  to  be  this : 
At  the  head  of  the  Elkhorn  and  the  Loups,  and  between  these 
rivers  and  the  Niobrara,  there  are  great  numbers  of  small  lakes 
and  ponds  and  sloughs.  These  are  underlaid  by  an  impervious 
clayey  stratum,  so  that  the  only  escape  possible  for  the  waters  is 
by  overflow  and  evaporation.  Some  drain  into  these  rivers,  but 
many  have  no  visible  outlet.  Near  to  and  among  these  lakes  are 
the  Sand  Hills,  already  described.  The  sun  shining  on  these  hills 
heats  them  up  to  an  extreme  degree,  and  necessarily  also  the  at- 
mosphere around  and  above  them.  I  have  experienced  a  tempera- 
ture myself  here  in  the  shade  of  110°  F.,  when  the  register  at 
Plattsmouth  marked  only  from  85°  to  90°  F.  The  consequence  is, 
that  the  evaporation  is  enormous.  The  atmosphere  becomes  super- 
saturated with  moisture.  The  least  fall  now  in  temperature,  pro- 
duced by  a  change  of  wind  or  other  cause,  creates  cloud,  the  play 
of  lightning  and  rainfall.  My  own  experience  in  this  region  is  not 
a  solitary  one.  Captain  W.  S.  Stanton,  of  the  Topographical  En- 
gineers of  the  U.  S.  A.,  had  a  similar  experience.  The  "  cattle 
men"  who  have  invaded  that  region  testify  to  the  same  facts. 
This  region  of  showers  covers  the  entire  section  occupied  by  both 
lakes,  sloughs,  ponds,  and  sand  hills.  With  the  increasing  moisture 
all  over  the  State,  it  will  be  interesting  to  note  the  changes  as  the 
Sand  Hills  become  more  covered  with  grasses.  The  rainfall  there 
will  then  probably  continue  to  increase,  but  will  be  more  equally 
distributed. 

Comparative  Estimates  with  other  Regions — Europe:— While 
therefore  many  will  admit  that  there  is  an  abundance  of  rainfall 
east  of  the  looth  meridian,  they  still  claim  that  west  of  that  line  it 
is  too  dry  for  the  successful  production  of  anything  but  stock. 


40  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

They  point  to  the  less  amount  of  rainfall  west  of  that  line,  and  ask 
how  a  region  that  receives  so  little  can  be  utilized  for  agricultural 
purposes.  Two  replies  can  be  made. 

The  fallacy  of  this  conclusion  can  be  seen  at  once  if  we  compare 
the  rainfall  in  western  Nebraska  with  that  which  obtains  in  some 
of  the  most  favored  spots  of  the  old  world.  The  following  table 
I  have  taken  from  Guoyot: 

Table  of  Rainfall. 


Depth  in  Inches 

British  Islands,  

32 

Western  France, 

25 

Eastern        "        

22 

21 

Central  and  North  German}7, 

20 

Hungary,  

17 

14 

Northeast  Portugal                                     . 

11 

Madrid  

10 

Paris  itself,  according  to  the  researches  of  Arago,  has  only  an 
average  annual  rainfall  of  twenty  inches.  (Cosmos,  vol.  I,  p.  331.)* 

Now  it  is  true  that  there  are  many  rainy  days  in  western  France 
(152)  and  in  central  and  north  Germany  (150)  yet  if  we  count  in 
the  nights  when  it  rains  and  the  days  and  nights  when  it  snows, 
there  is  not  so  much  difference  as  at  first  imagined  between  the  wet 
days  of  Nebraska  and  middle  and  western  Europe.  Regions  in 
Europe  with  less  rainfall  than  even  western  Nebraska,  are  made 
successful  in  agriculture.  Less  toil  than  is  expended  to  make  the 
dry  portions  of  Europe  a  garden  would  make  western  Nebraska 
agriculturally  rich.  Even,  therefore,  judged  by  European  stand- 
ards, western  Nebraska  is  already  sufficiently  watered  for  the  needs 
of  certain  kinds  of  agriculture. 

Not  only  is  western  Nebraska  far  removed  from  desert  condi- 
tions, but  every  part  of  North  America.  No  sections  of  its  low 
or  table  lands  have  the  aridity  that  Humboldt  and  Ehrenberg  found 
[Cosmos]  between  the  valleys  of  the  Irtish  and  the  Oby.  There  with 
temperature  of  74°  /  the  dew  point  was  at  24°.  The  air  therefore 
contained  only  .10  of  aqueous  vapor.  The  structure  of  North 
America  makes  genuine  desert  conditions  impossible.  There  are 
dry  and  arid  sections  but  the  aridity  nowhere  produces  a  genu- 
ine desert  comparable  to  the  Sahara. 


*  See  also  lor  early  rainfall  in  Central  Europe,  Gasparins'  Researches. 


RAINFALL   IN   NEBRASKA.  41 

The  second  reply  to  those  who  object  to  the  little  rainfall  in 
western  Nebraska,  is  that  the  rainfall  is  increasing  from  year  to 
year.  This  fact  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EVIDENCES    OF    INCREASING   RAINFALL    IN    NE- 
BRASKA—SOURCES OF  RAINFALL. 

Appearance  of  New  Springs— Increasing  Size  of  Streams— Changing  Vegeta- 
tion—Former  Character  of  Vegetation— Causes  Producing  Increased  Rainfall 
—Wrong  Reasons  Assigned— True  Reason,  the  Increased  Absorptive  Power 
of  the  Soil,  produced  by  Cultivation— Experimental  Proofs— Special  Ab- 
sorptive Power  of  Nebraska  Soil— Extension  of  Sufficient  Rainfall  over 
Western  Nebraska— Original  Sources  of  Rainfall— Effect  of  Change  in  the 
Direction  of  the  Winds — Moisture  from  the  Rivers — Amount  of  River  Sur- 
face Exposed  to  Evaporation— Temperature  of  the  Rivers— Nebraska  ef- 
fected by  the  Amount  of  Precipitation  in  the  Mountains. 

SOON  after  I  first  came  to  the  State  in  1864,  it  was  reported  that 
some  new  springs  had  made  their  appearance  at  the  base  of  the 
bluffs  facing  the  Missouri  bottom  and  river  in  Dakota  County.  On 
investigation  this  was  found  to  be  correct.  This  phenomenon  was 
observed  in  other  portions  of  the  State.  It  has  occurred,  for  ex- 
ample, during  the  last  few  years  in  the  Pierce  precinct  in  Lancaster 
County.  Up  to  this  time  I  have  a  record  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
springs  that  have  made  their  appearance  during  the  last  ten  years 
where  they  were  never  known  before.  This  same  appearing  of 
new  springs  has  been  noticed  by  many  observers  in  the  State,  and 
is  particularly  familiar  to  the  older  settlers  of  the  State.  Connected 
with  this  same  line  of  facts  is  the  phenomenon  of  the  appearance 
of  water  in  old  creek  beds,  where  it  apparently  had  not  been  flow- 
ing for  ages.  Manv  of  the  smaller  tributaries  of  the  Elkhorn,  the 
Logan,  the  Bows,  the  Loups  and  the  Niobrara,  with  beautiful 
small  bottoms  and  old  stream  beds  in  the  midst  or  one  side  of  them, 
and  which  were  perfectly  dry  when  I  first  knew  them  in  1865  and 
1866,  are  again  living  streams.  Indeed  many  of  them,  especially 
towards  the  head  of  the  Elkhorns,  that  had  sod  grown  over  the 
stream  beds  which  were  even  difficult  to  find  so  nearly  obliterated 


42  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

were  they,  are  again  supplied  with  water,  not  merely  during  part 
of  the  year,  but  apparently  permanently. 

Still  another  fact  in  the  same  connection  is  the  increasing  size  of 
the  streams  of  the  State.  Old  settlers  observe  this.  It  is  a  phe- 
nomenon that  every  old  settler  must  notice,  who  has  been  inter- 
ested in  matters  of  this  kind. 

The  changing  vegetation  of  the  State  proves  the  same  fact. 
There  was  a  time  within  the  memory  of  many  now  living  when 
the  buffalo  grass  was  the  most  conspicuous  vegetable  form  west  of 
the  Missouri.  When  Lewis  and  Clarke  passed  up  the  Missouri  in 
1804,  it  was  almost  the  only  grass  that  they  found  growing  along 
this  portion  of  their  route.  Fremont  observed  the  same  thing  as 
late  as  1842.  The  first  settlers  in  this  territory  found  it  abounding 
along  all  the  river  counties.  The  early  freighters  across  the  plains 
depended  most  on  it  for  pasturage  for  their  cattle.  Now  how 
changed.  It  has  almost  entirely  disappeared  for  two  hundred 
miles  west  of  the  Missouri.  There  is  comparatively  little  of  it  now 
on  the  third  hundred.  Every  year  it  is  retreating  further  west- 
ward. Its  place  is  supplied  with  grasses  indigenous  to  moister 
climates.  Where  formerly  the  ground  was  covered  with  grasses 
from  two  to  four  inches  high,  there  is  now  a  carpet  of  green  from 
six  inches  to  four  feet  high.  Many  of  the  blue  joints  and  sorghum 
grasses  exceed  even  this  height.  Still  other  forms  besides  the 
grasses,  characteristic  of  moist  regions,  are  occupying  the  spaces 
left  by  the  retreating  buffalo  grass.  There  is  also  an  increase  in 
the  spontaneous  growth  of  timber.  Wherever  there  are  abandoned 
cultivated  fields,  and  the  prairie  fires  are  kept  away,  and  the  tract 
is  left  unmolested  from  other  hindering  causes,  thick  growths  of 
cottonwood  and  sometimes  box  elder  frequently,  soon  monopolize 
the  ground.  This  is  especially  true  of  lands  in  close  proximity  to 
existing  timber  belts.  There  is  an  increasing  disposition  to  do  this 
all  over  eastern  Nebraska.  Where  formerly  there  was  not  suffi- 
cient moisture  to  start  the  seeds  into  life  on  the  high  lands,  which 
are  scattered  each  year  by  the  winds,  birds  and  rodents,  there  is 
an  abundance.  In  fact  it  is  questionable,  if  prairie  fires  were  en- 
tirely repressed,  whether  groves  of  timber  would  not  now  gradu- 
ally creep  over  all  the  unoccupied  lands  of  Nebraska.  The  proofs, 
therefore,  that  the  rainfall  of  Nebraska  is  steadily  increasing,  are 
manifold.  If  space  permitted,  many  more  could  be  given.  It  is 
therefore  probable  that  the  early  explorers  of  this  region  were  cor- 


RAINFALL   IN    NEBRASKA.  43 

rect  in  ascribing  to  it  a  partially  desert  character.  And  yet  even 
then  they  could  only  have  been  partially  correct.  No  desert  can 
support  countless  thousands  of  buffalo,  elk,  deer  and  antelope  as 
the  plains  of  Nebraska  did  when  Lewis  and  Clarke  made  their  first 
voyages  of  discovery  up  the  Missouri.  The  probabilities  are,  that 
those  eminent  explorers  confounded  the  appearance  of  a  section 
closely  pastured,  and  in  some  places  made  bare  by  the  pasturing, 
of  those  immense  herds  of  buffalo  of  which  they  speak,  with  the 
barrenness  that  a  true  desert  always  exhibits.  A  land  that  is  sup- 
plied with  sufficient  moisture  in  such  a  climate  as  this,  to  produce 
food  for  such  an  affluence  of  animal  life,  can  always  be  made  avail- 
able for  the  purposes  of  a  high  civilization. 

CAUSES  THAT  ARE  PRODUCING  INCREASED  RAINFALL. 

Various  reasons  have  been  assigned  to  account  for  the  increased 
rainfall  of  the  State.  Some  have  maintained  that  the  cause  is  secular 
- — that  there  are  great  periods  when  the  moisture  of  a  region  in- 
creases for  ages  independent  of  any  human  agency,  and  that  when 
it  has  reached  a  maximum  it  commences  to  decrease,  which  contin- 
ues until  it  reaches  a  minimum.  According  to  this  theory,  this 
region  is  now  in  a  stage  of  increasing  moisture.  The  advocates  of 
this  theory  point  out  the  fact  that  the  Great  Salt  Lake  in  Utah,  and 
Lake  Mono,  lying  at  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Sierras,are  both  undoubt- 
edly rising.*  One  of  the  objections  to  this  theory  is  that  the  geo- 
logical causes  which  produce  increased  rainfall,  are  not  now  spon- 
taneously operative.  Western  America  passed  through  many  such 
revolutions  during  the  progress  of  the  later  geological  ages,  and 
their  causes  are  well  understood.  When,  for  example,  .the  region 
of  the  plains  was  much  lower  than  at  present,  and  were  dotted 
over  with  great  fresh  water  lakes,  a  much  moister  climate  than  the 
present  must  have  prevailed.  The  country  between  this  and  the 
Pacific  is  not  now  sinking — it  is  rather  rising  at  the  rate,  according 
to  Whitney,  of  a  foot  or  two  to  the  century.  Denudation  keeps 
it  at  about  the  same  level.  Unless  therefore  the  cause  is  extra 
terrestrial  we  cannot  ascribe  the  increasing  rainfall  to  merely  secu- 
lar changes.  There  are  no  cosmical  causes  definitely  known  that 
would  cause  an  increase  of  rainfall  over  an  isolated  region  of  the 
earth.  That  cause,  therefore,  as  a  producer  of  increased  rainfall 
must  also  be  dismissed. 


*On  Lake  Mono  see  LeCutes'  paper  on  the  existence  of  volcanoes  around  Mono,  read  before 
National  Academy,  April  ISth,  1879. 


44  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Another  theory  tenaciously  held  by  some,  is  that  the  increased 
rainfall  is  produced  by  the  iron  on  the  railroad  lines  of  the  State 
and  the  wires  of  the  telegraph  lines.  A  few  also  believe  that 
it  is  effected  by  the  disturbance  of  the  atmospheric  circulation 
through  the  concussions  of  locomotives  and  moving  trains.  The 
objection  to  these  views  comes  largely  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
older  States  where  railroad  lines  are  much  more  numerous  and 
have  existed  much  longer,  no  increase  of  rainfall  has  been  noticed. 

A  more  plausible  theory  is,  that  the  planting  of  trees  has  been 
the  cause  of  increased  rainfall.  This,  I  admit,  is  a  helping  cause, 
but  cannot  be  the  main  cause  of  increased  rainfall.  In  Nebraska 
increase  of  rainfall  commenced  before  the  number  of  trees  planted 
equaled  the  number  destroyed.  Comparatively  few  of  the  first 
settlers  planted  trees.  Again,  the  statistics  of  forestry  in  the  east, 
in  Europe,  in  Asia,  show  that  forests  modify  temperature,  the  vio- 
lence of  winds  and  equalize  rainfall,  but  do  not  increase  it.  While 
therefore  it  is  admitted  that  the  growth  of  forests  exercises  the  hap- 
piest influences  on  climate,  it  is  still  evident  that  we  must  look 
elsewhere  for  the  permanent  causes  of  increasing  rainfall.  The 
same  argument  that  applies  to  forests  can  be  used  in  reply 
to  those  who  insist  that  increased  rainfall  is  due  to  the  pro- 
ductions of  corn  and  the  cereal  grains.  It  may  be  that  the 
continued  and  combined  action  of  these  causes  has  some  effect  in 
increasing  rainfall,  but  it  must  be  small.  There  is,  however,  an 
other  cause,  not  heretefore  mentioned,  most  potently  acting  to  pro- 
duce all  the  changes  in  rainfall  that  the  facts  indicate  have  taken 
place.  What  then  is  that  cause? 

//  is  the  great  increase  in  the  absorptive  power  of  the  soil, 
'wrought  by  cultivation,  that  has  caused,  and  continues  to  cause 
an  increasing  rainfall  in  the  State. 

Any  one  who  examines  a  piece  of  raw  prairie  closely,  must  observe 
how  compact  it  is.  Every  one  who  opens  up  a  new  farm,  soon  finds 
that  it  requires  an  extra  force  to  break  it.  There  is  nothing  extra- 
ordinary about  this.  For  vast  ages  the  prairies  have  been  pelted  by  the 
elements  and  trodden  by  millions  of  buffalo  and  other  wild  animals, 
until  the  naturally  rich  soil  became  as  compact  as  a  floor.  When 
rain  falls  on  a  primitive  soil  of  this  character,  the  greater  part  runs 
off  into  the  canyons,  creeks  and  rivers,  and  is  soon  through  the 
Missouri  on  its  way  to  the  Gulf.  Observe  now  the  change  which 
cultivation  makes.  After  the  soil  is  broken,  the  rain  as  it  falls  is 


RAINFALL   IN    NEBRASKA.  45 

absorbed  by  the  soil  like  a  huge  sponge.  The  soil  gives  this  ab- 
sorbed moisture  slowly  back  to  the  atmosphere  by  evaporation. 
Thus  year  by  year  as  cultivation  of  the  soil  is  extended,  more  of  the 
rain  that  falls  is  absorbed  and  retained  to  be  given  off  by  evapora- 
tion, or  to  produce  springs.  This,  of  course,  must  give  increasing 
moisture  and  rainfall. 

In  order  to  test  the  accuracy  of  this  theory,  which  struck  me  as 
the  only  true  explanation  of  this  phenomenon  as  early  as  1867,  I,  at 
various  times,  made  some  experiments.  The  first  accurate  experi- 
ments I  made  in  May,  1872.  I  went  east  of  the  Antelope,  about  a 
mile,  from  Lincoln,  to  a  farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Hawley,  after  a 
heavy  rain.  With  a  rule,  six  inches  square  was  marked  off,  of  un- 
broken prairie,  and  this  was  taken  up  six  inches  deep  and  placed  in 
a  porcelain  dish  that  had  been  previously  weighed.  The  same 
amount  to  the  same  depth,  was  taken  from  a  cultivated  field.  The 
difference  in  weights  between  the  two  specimens  was  sufficiently  great 
to  prove  that  the  cultivated  land  absorbed  at  least  during  this  rain, 
twelve  times  as  much  moisture  as  the  uncultivated.  The 
specimens  were  taken  from  lands  only  a  few  yards  apart.  After 
another  rain,  from  near  the  same  locality,  a  square  foot  three  inches 
deep,  was  lifted  and  compared  with  a-n  equal  amount  from  an  ad- 
joining field.  The  specimens  were  first  weighed,  then  dried  and  then 
weighed  again.  The  difference  in  this  case  indicated  that  ten  times 
as  much  moisture  had  been  absorbed  by  the  cultivated  ground  as  by 
the  unbroken  prairie.  In  June,  1873,  similar  experiments  were 
made  and  with  the  same  results.  Where  the  rainfall  is  slight,  the 
difference  will  not  be  found  to  be  so  great.  Much  also  depends  on 
the  lay  of  the  land ;  care  must  also  be  taken  that  the  cultivated 
land  that  is  experimented  with,  lies  adjoining  unbroken 
prairie,  as  there  is  often  considerable  difference  in  rainfall,  espec- 
ially in  thunder  storms,  in  the  space  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  In  all 
cases  the  experiments  were  made  immediately  after  or  during  the 
intermissions  of  rainfall.  After  only  slight  rains,  the  difference  in 
absorptive  power  was  only  as  four  to  one.  The  mean,  however,  of 
fifty  of  these  experiments,  gives  an  average  absorptive  power  of 
cultivated  ground  over  unbroken  prairie  of  nine  to  one.  To  make 
allowances,  however,  for  possible  mistakes,  I  will  make  eight  to  one 
the  basis  of  our  future  calculations  on  this  subject. 

When  the  first  settlements  were  commenced  in  Nebraska  the 
rainfall  of  the  State  was  not  over  twenty  inches.     Of  these  twenty 


46  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

inches  probably  not  more  than  five  inches  soaked  into  the  ground. 
Cultivated  soil,  however,  absorbs  nearly  all  the  rain  that  falls. 
Where  thirty-two  inches  of  rain  now  falls  in  Nebraska  on  cultiva- 
ted ground,  not  less  than  twenty-four  inches  are  absorbed  by  the 
soil.  Some  of  this  is  slowly  given  back  into  the  atmosphere,  and 
some  of  it  goes  to  form  the  new  springs  of  water  that  are  making 
their  appearance  in  so  many  places.  Any  one  can  see  that  this 
must  make  an  enormous  difference  in  the  moisture  of  the  atmos- 
phere and  on  rainfall.  Before  the  settlement  of  the  State,  and  be- 
fore the  consequent  cultivation  of  the  soil,  what  rain  did  fall,  as 
already  stated,  soon  left  the  State  through  creeks  and  rivers.  Now 
the  greater  part  of  what  does  fall  on  all  cultivated  or  broken  ground, 
is  retained  by  the  soil  which  becomes  a  reservoir  of  water  to  sup- 
ply growing  crops,  and  to  give  greater  humidity  to  the  atmosphere. 

ABSORPTIVE  POWER  OF  NEBRASKA  SOIL. 

No  soil  in  the  Eastern  States  has  so  great  an  absorptive  power 
as  the  land  in  Nebraska.  There,  as  a  general  rule,  the  underlying 
hard  rock  is  soon  reached,  and  during  excessive  rains  the  thin  soil 
is  so  supersaturated  with  water  that  excessive  denudation  of  the 
soil  is  common.  A  thin  soil  also  dries  out,  because  there  are  no 
stores  of  moisture  below  from  which  it  can  draw  supplies.  Here, 
however,  the  superficial  deposits  are  of  very  great  thickness.  The 
loess  itself,  ranges  from  two  feet  to  two  hundred  feet,  and  often 
where  it  is  thin,  there  are  below  it  great  bodies  of  drift.  The  av- 
erage thickness  of  all  the  superficial  deposits — loess  and  drift — 
is  considerably  over  one  hundred  feet.  This  thickness,  therefore, 
of  surface  materials  constitutes  the  huge  sponge  that  absorbs  ex- 
cesses of  rainfall,  and  retains  it  to  be  given  back  to  the  atmosphere 
only  gradually. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  cause  competent  to  account  for  the  in- 
creased rainfall  of  the  State — a  cause  that  not  only  has  operated 
thus  far  but  is  continuous.  Through  the  operations  of  this  cause, 
the  rainfall  will  become  even  more  abundant  than  it  has  yet  been, 
especially  over  the  central  and  western  portion  of  the  State.  The 
area  of  cultivation  is  extending  rapidly  each  year,  and  continual  en- 
croachments are  made  on  the  lands  in  western  Nebraska,  that  have 
been  condemned  as  barren  because  of  a  deficiency  of  rainfall.  Last 
year  a  large  amount  of  land  breaking  was  done  near  to  and  west 
of  the  looth  meridian  in  the  Republican  Valley  and  the  table  lands 


RAINFALL   IN    NEBRASKA.  47 

adjoining  it.  And  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  last  winter,  (1879), 
there  was  an  exceptionally  large  fall  of  snow,  and  this  summer  an 
abundant  rainfall  in  the  same  region.  In  fact,  this  snow  and  rain- 
fall extended  all  over  Western  Nebraska. 

The  question  is  often  asked  whether  the  causes  now  producing 
the  increased  rainfall  over  the  eastern  two-thirds  of  the  State  will 
ever  be  sufficiently  operative  over  the  extreme  western  third  as  to 
make  it  an  agricultural  region.  Of  this  I  have  no  doubt.  It  prob- 
ably will  take  a  longer  time  to  produce  this  change  here  than  it 
did  in  eastern  Nebraska.  The  cause  of  this  will  be  discussed  pres- 
ently. When  the  great  body  of  the  land  near  to  and  west  of  the 
looth  meridian  is  once  cultivated  that  is  capable  of  cultivation,  the 
sufficiently  and  increasingly  moist  region  will  encroach  gradually 
on  the  dry  region  until  it  is  entirely  crowded  out  of  the  State. 
And  the  reason  why  this  cause  will  be  slower  here  in  its  operation 
is  because  extreme  western  Nebraska  is  under  the  lee  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  moisture-bearing  winds  do  not  strike  it  so  direct- 
ly as  they  do  eastern  Nebraska.  This  is  better  understood  when 

THE    ORIGINAL    SOURCES  OF  THE    RAINFALL    OF    NEBRASKA 
ARE  CONSIDERED. 

These  sources  are  mainly  of  a  two-fold  and  combined  character. 
One  source  is  the  moisture-laden  winds  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico; 
the  other  is  the  enormous  evaporation  from  those  rivers  of  Nebras- 
ka that  have  their  source  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Rains  are  most  apt  to  fall  when  there  is  a  change  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  winds.  If  the  wind,  for  example,  has  been  blowing  for 
days  from  the  southwest,  south,  or  southeast,  and  turns  around  and 
comes  from  the  north,  rain  is  almost  certain  to  fall.  There  will 
also  be  a  fall  of  rain  if  the  change  is  from  the  north  to  the  south. 
Any  one  looking  at  a  map  of  the  United  States  will  see  that  the 
south  wind  coming  directly  upon  the  west  end  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  would  strike  Red  Willow,  Furnas,  Dawson,  Custer,  Elk- 
horn,  and  Kiiox  counties.  Whenever,  therefore,  all  of  Nebraska, 
including  these  and  the  counties  east  of  them  are  bathed  by  this 
moisture-bearing  wind  from  the  Gulf,  either  after  a  north  wind  or 
followed  by  one  there  is  precipitation  of  moisture  into  cloud  and 
generally  rainfall.  When  the  wind  is  slightly  from  the  southeast, 
extreme  western  Nebraska  shares  in  this  rainfall,  otherwise  it  does 
so  to  only  a  limited  extent.  This  is,  it  appears  to  me,  one  reason 


48  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

•why  there  has  been  less  rainfall  in  this  section  than  in  eastern  Ne- 
braska. 

As,  however,  there  are  trusty  indications  of  a  regular  rate  of  in- 
crease of  rainfall  for  western  Nebraska,  similar  to  that  going  on  in 
eastern  Nebraska  the  probabilities  are  that  when  the  eastern  two- 
thirds  of  the  State  are  once  properly  cultivated,  and  its  rainfall 
averages  forty  inches,  that  of  western  Nebraska  will  approximate 
twenty-eight  or  thirty  inches,  and  that  in  this  State  is  sufficient  to 
produce  successfully  the  cereal  grains,  cultivated  grasses  and  corn. 

The  second  source  of  rainfall  for  Nebraska  is  the  moisture  from, 
the  rivers  that  flow  from  the  mountains.  These  rivers  are  the 
Platte,  the  Niobrara  to  a  small  extent,  and  the  Missouri  and  its 
tributaries.  The  flood  time  of  these  rivers  is  always  a  rainy  season 
for  Nebraska.  This  rainy  season  comes  earlier  or  later  as  the 
"big  rise"  is  earlier  or  later.  Then  the  moisture  that  is  wafted 
here  by  the  winds  from  the  Gulf,  is  reinforced  by  the  moisture  that 
is  evaporated  from  these  rivers;  and  the  consequent  precipitation 
into  cloud  and  rainfall,  constitutes  the  rainy  season  for  Nebraska. 
A  map  of  Nebraska  shows  how  two  of  these  rivers  run  the  whole 
length  of  the  State,  and  that  the  mighty  Missouri  is  east  and  north 
of  it.  The  Missouri  too,  it  should  be  remembered,  has  a  course  of 
four  hundred  miles  along  eastern  Nebraska,  for  though  the  State 
is  little  more  than  two  hundred  miles  from  north  to  south,  the 
serpentine  windings  of  the  river  give  it  at  least  double  that  length. 
We  have,  therefore,  a  length  of  four  hundred  miles  of  the  Missouri, 
and  (for  the  same  reason  as  applied  to  the  Missouri)  at  least  six 
hundred  miles  of  the  Platte,  or  one  thousand  miles  of  river  aver- 
aging one  mile  broad,  or  one  thousand  square  miles  of  rapidly  mov- 
ing river  surface,  exposed  to  a  warm  atmosphere,  from  which  the 
evaporation  is  simply  enormous.  The  Niobrara,  counting  its  wind- 
ings, adds  five  hundred  more  miles  of  evaporating  surface.  Unlike 
the  floods  of  eastern  rivers,  these  "big  rises"  last  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  often  indeed  from  its  beginning  to  its  close,  over 
two  months.  What  adds  greatly  to  the  rapidity  of  the  evapora- 
tions is  the  difierence  of  temperature  between  the  waters  of  these 
rivers  and  the  atmosphere.  Lewis  and  Clarke',  during  their  famous 
expedition  up  the  Missouri  in  1804,  spoke  of  the  sameness  of  the 
temperature  of  the  water  of  the  Missouri  and  its  tributaries  with 
that  of  the  atmosphere.  If  no  difierence  existed  then,  it  does  now. 
For  example,  the  signal  service  at  Omaha  for  June,  1878,  report  a 


RAINFALL   IN    NEBRASKA.  49 

mean  temperature  of  68°  4'.  My  own  determinations  for  the  tem- 
perature of  the  water  of  the  Missouri  at  the  same  point,  being  a 
mean  of  many  observations  for  this  month,  give  63°  9',  showing 
that  the  temperature  of  the  water  is  for  this  month  4°  5'  lower  than 
that  of  the  atmosphere.  The  mean  temperature  for  July,  1877,  at 
Omaha,  as  determined  by  the  signal  office  was  76°.  For  this  month 
the  signal  office  also  report  the  mean  temperature  of  the  river  73^°. 
The  temperature  of  the  water  at  the  Platte  at  its  mouth,  approxi- 
mates more  closely  to  that  of  the  atmosphere,  it  being  for  June, 
1878,68°  and  for  June  1879,  67°  9'.  At  North  Platte  the  tem- 
perature of  the  waters  of  the  Platte  is  much  lower,  it  being  for 
June  65°  and  for  July  68°.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the 
temperature  of  the  water  is  much  more  uniform  than  that  of  the 
atmosphere.  Its  daily  oscillations  are  small.  It  is  rarely  during 
twenty-four  hours  the  same  as  that  of  the  atmosphere.  From  all 
these  causes  then  the  evaporation  from  the  surface  is  very  great  and 
the  winds  carry  the  moisture  in  various  directions,  until  finally  it  is 
again  deposited  as  rain. 

NEBRASKA  AFFECTED  BY  THE  AMOUNT  OF  PRECIPITATION  OF 
MOISTURE  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

As  the  seasons  of  greatest  rainfall  in  Nebraska  are  the  seasons 
of  greatest  rise  in  the  Missouri  and  the  Platte,  and  as  the  magni- 
tude of  these  rises  is  dependent  on  the  amount  of  snowfall  in  the 
mountains,  the  moisture  of  the  plains  is  to  this  extent  dependent  on 
the  amount  of  precipitation  there  during  the  winter  season.  A 
question,  therefore,  in  which  every  one  here  is  interested,  is 
whether  the  amount  of  moisture  there  is  decreasing,  is  station- 
ary, or  is  on  the  increase.  Some  scientific  authorities  have  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  the  whole  Rocky  Mountain  region  is  in  a 
comparatively  rapid  process  of  drying  up,  and  that  the  amount  of 
rain  and  snowfall  must  be  less  each  decade  and  century.  One  of 
the  theoretical  arguments  presentedin  proof -of  this  view  is,  that  in 
ages  geologically  recent,  the  Rocky  Mountain  area  was  a  region 
of  great  lakes,  and  that  it  then  lay  at  a  much  lower  level,  but  that 
now  the  lakes  have  nearly  all  disappeared,  and  that  it  is  still  rising 
at  the  rate  of  a  few  feet  to  the  century,  and  that,  therefore,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  the  drying-up  process  must  continue.  The  facts 
relied  on  for  this  opinion,  are  mainly  that  wherever  the  mountain 
sides  are  from  any  cause  denuded  of  their  timber,  no  young  trees 

4 


50  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

take  their  place.  In  other  words,  whenever  the  mountain  sides 
become  bare  of  forests,  they  remain  so.  It  has  also  been  asserted 
that  many  groves  along  the  sides  of  the  mountains  and  on  the 
summits  were  dying  off  without  any  apparent  cause,  except  the 
increasing  dryness  of  the  region.  I  am  now  confident  that  the  ad- 
vocates of  this  theory  are  mistaken  in  their  theories  and  their  facts. 
It  is  true  that  since  the  miocene  tertiary  age  or  even  since  the  cre- 
tacious,  the  amount  of  water. in  the  form  of  great  lakes  has  on  the 
whole  been  decreasing.  But  there  are  limits  to  these  processes. 
There  have  been  many  revolutions  in  the  condition,  geological  and 
meteorological,  of  central  and  western  North  America  in  the  meso- 
zoic  and  cenozoic  ages.  For  example,  during  the  earlier  ages  the 
greater  part  of  western  Nebraska  was  dry  land.  But  it  gradu- 
ally and  slowly  commenced  to  sink,  and  in  the  course  of  centuries 
that  are  numberless,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  extended  itself  in  a  north- 
westerly direction  over  our  plains  to  the  Arctic  sea.  The  uplift- 
ing of  the  Rocky  Mountains  that  commenced  at  the  close  of  the 
cretaceous  age,  inaugurated  the  area  of  making  of  dry  land  which 
has  continued  to  the  present  time,  but  with  many  intermissions. 
My  limits  will  not  permit  me  to  discuss  these  interruptions.  But 
these  facts  in  geological  history  do  not  warrant  us  to  conclude,  be- 
cause in  the  most  recent  periods  the  tendency  has  been  to  continued 
elevation  and  dryness,  that  this  tendency  must  continue.  Rather 
should  the  opposite  conclusion  be  reached,  that  sooner  or  later  the 
limit  of  elevation  and  dryness  will  be  attained,  and  that  a  reaction 
must  follow  as  in  the  past.  This  reaction  must  for  countless  ages 
in  the  future  bring  increasing  moisture.  Now,  the  facts  of  the 
present  operations  of  nature  in  the  mountains  do  not  sustain  this 
theory. 

The  advocates  of  the  increasing  dryness  of  the  mountains  evident- 
ly make  many  of  their  observations  at  "long  range."  They  have 
viewed  mountain  sides  and  tops  like  some  newspaper  men  have 
battles — a  great  way  off.  Commencing  at  Georgetown  I  have 
climbed  every  mountain  side  and  examined  every  mountain  top 
that  I  could  see  where  the  timber  had  been  destroyed  from  any 
cause.  The  whole  number  of  such  places  that  I  examined  was 
twenty-seven,  and  in  every  instance  I  found  countless  numbers  of 
young  pines  and  sometimes  deciduous  trees  coming  up  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old  ones.  Often  when  I  looked  at  a  mountain  side 
from  a  distance  nothing  could  be  seen  but  old  trees  deadened  by 


RAINFALL   IN   NEBRASKA.  51 

fire.  When,  however,  the  spot  was  reached  the  ground  was  often 
so  covered  with  young  trees  from  one  to  five  years  old  that  it  was 
difficult  to  penetrate  through  the  mass  of  tangled  limbs.  Where 
small  areas  were  not  crowded  with  young  trees  the  grasses  were 
growing  with  a  luxuriance  that  surprised  many  of  the  old  residents 
of  the  mountains.  Take  for  example  the  side  of  Griffith  Mountain 
on  the  south  side  of  Georgetown.  The  timber  here  was  removed 
for  fuel  and  other  purposes.  In  spots  over  its  denuded  surface 
countless  numbers  of  young  pines,  spruce  and  quaking  asps  from 
six  inches  to  four  feet  high  are  making  their  appearance.  Where 
squirrels  and  birds  failed  to  plant  seeds  for  another  forest  luxuriant 
grasses  and  magnificent  flowers  cover  the  ground.  Every  nook 
and  corner  among  the  rocks  seems  to  be  utilized  for  plant  life.  I 
found  the  same  condition  of  things  on  the  mountain  sides  around 
Middle  Park.  As  all  who  have  visited  this  beautiful  region  will 
remember,  the  mouutain  slopes  are  here  very  densely  timbered, 
and  wherever  I  found  the  timber  here  destroyed  by  fires  a  young 
crop  was  struggling  to  take  its  place.  On  going  north  from  Grand 
Lake  for  twenty-five  miles  along  the  western  base  of  the  main 
range,  and  in  sight  of  the  Rabbit-ear  mountains,  about  twelve  miles 
of  my  route,  passed  through  fallen  timber  that  had  been  destroyed  a 
few  years  ago  by  a  huge  fire.  Some  sections  of  this  desolation 
was  already  covered  by  a  dense  growth  of  pine  from  two  to  four 
feet  high,  while  in  other  spots  the  young  trees  were  just  be- 
ginning to  make  their  appearance.  In  some  places  it  was 
hard  to  tell  whether  the  grasses  or  the  trees  would  gain  the 
mastery.  This  section  of  the  park  is  rarely  visited,  owing, 
probably,  to  the  absence  of  roads  or  trails,  and  yet  no  part  is 
more  beautiful  or  has  grander  scenery.  I  was  accompa 
nied  by  D.  N.  Smith,  of  Burlington,  Iowa,  and  both  of  us  were 
conducted  by  a  notable  guide,  George  W.  Cole,  whom  we  found 
exceedingly  intelligent  and  perfectly  reliable,  and  who  never  flinch- 
ed when  we  were  in  a  tight  place.  The  rapidity  of  growth  of  the 
mountain  timber  has  also  been  underestimated.  I  measured  a  great 
many  pines  and  spruces  in  Berthoud  Pass  that  had  made  a  growth 
of  from  five  to  eleven  inches  during  the  year.  Some  quak- 
ing asps  on  Willow  Mountain  had  made  a  growth  of  fourteen 
inches. 

These  facts,  which,  if  space  permitted,  would  be  greatly  multi- 
plied, demonstrate  that  those  are  greatly  mistaken  who  insist  that 


52  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  Rocky  Mountain  region  is  drying  up.  The  evidence,  so  far  as 
it  goes,  points  in  the  other  direction,  and  proves  that  it  is  increasing. 
The  agency  of  man  probably  has  something  to  do  with  this,  just  as 
it  has  in  Nebraska,  but  our  limits  will  not  permit  a  discussion  of 
this  point. 


CHAPTER  V. 

WATERS  OF  NEBRASKA. 

Lakes— Springs— Wells— Artesian  Wells— Saline  Springs— Rivers—  Mis- 
souri— Platte — Republican — Niobrara — Keya  Paha — White  River —  Elklio  rn 
Logan — Bow  Rivers — Nemahas — Blues,  Loups,  etc. 

IN  striking  contrast  to  past  geological  times,  there  are  now  no 
large  lakes  in  Nebraska.  There  are,  however,  a  great  numbej 
of  small  lakes  in  the  State.  From  their  small  size  and  their  dis- 
tance from  railroads  they  have  thus  far  attracted  little  attention. 
Those  along  the  Missouri,  such  as  the  ones  in  Dakota  and  Burt 
counties,  have  been  produced  in  recent  times,  some  of  them  indeed 
within  a  few  years.  The  "  cut-offs  "  of  the  Missouri  often  leave 
small  lakes.  The  one  northwest  of  Dakota  City  is  about  five  miles 
long.  Similar  lakes,  in,  a  similar  way,  have  been  formed  on  the 
Elkhorn,the  Platte  and  the  Blue  rivers.  Many  of  these,  however, 
in  the  interior,  are  the  remnants  of  what  was  once,  in  loess  times, 
a  vast  inland  lake  that  covered  the  larger  part  of  Nebraska.*  An 
extensive  region  of  small  lakes  is  found  at  the  head  of  the  Elkhorn 
River.  Of  the  lakelets  that  exist  here,  over  thirty  in  number, 
many  of  them  are  of  great  beauty  with  sandy  or  pebbly  bottoms. 
A  still  more  extensive  lake  region  exists  at  the  headwaters  of  the 
North  Loup,  and  between  that  and  the  Niobrara  River.  Most  of 
these  are  of  fresh  water,  but  a  few  are  saline  or  alkaline.  At  the 
head  of  Snake  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Niobrara,  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  small  saline  and  fresh  water  lakes.  Perhaps  the  most  exten- 
sive groups  of  saline  lakes  are  those  at  the  head  of  Pine  Creek,  also 
one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Niobrara.  There  are  also  a  number 
of  alkaline  and  fresh  water  lakes  between  the  heads  of  the  Dismal 
and  Middle  Loup.  In  my  notes  of  exploration  and  travel  there  is 


*See  chapter  on  Superficial  Deposits  of  Nebraska. 


WATERS    OF    NEBRASKA.  53 

a  list  of  over  one  hundred,  and  no  doubt  there  are  many  more  that 
have  not  been  noted.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  great  numbers 
of  ponds  that  almost  approach  in  size  to  the  dignity  of  lakes. 
Some  of  these  lakelets  at  the  head  of  the  Elkhorn  were  in  former 
years,  when  first  visited,  remarkable  for  the  number  of  fishes  that 
they  contained.  Unaccustomed  to  the  presence  of  man,  they 
seemed  to  have  no  fears  of  him.  At  least,  when  I  waded  into 
them  they  gathered  around  me  in  huge  shoals.  The  alkaline  lakes 
can  always  be  detected  on  sight.  No  grass  or  other  vegetable  forms 
grow  near  the  water,  wliile  at  fresh  water  lakes  luxuriant  growths 
of  vegetation  extended  to  the  very  water's  edge.  With  the  in- 
crease of  rainfall  going  on  over  the  State,  the  level  of  these  lakes 
will  naturally  rise,  and  many  of  them  that  are  now  isolated  will 
become  connected  and  cover  much  more  extended  areas  than  at 
present.  A  prominent  characteristic  of  most  of  these  lakes  and 
lakelets  is  the  wonderful  clearness  of  the  water.  A  silver  three  or 
five  cent  piece  thrown  into  them  can  be  distinctly  seen  at  the  bot- 
tom with  the  naked  eye,  even  when  they  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet  deep.  This  I  ascertained  in  many  instances  by  actual  measure- 
ment. Most  of  the  deeper  lakes,  especially  of  the  northern  and 
western  portions  of  the  State,  have  gravelly, -coarse,  sandy  or  peb- 
bly bottoms.  Here  formerly,  much  more  than  at  present,  was  a 
paradise  of  water  fowl. 

SPRINGS,  WELLS,  AND  ARTESIAN  WELLS. 

In  the  eastern  half  the  State  springs  are  abundant,  and  wherever 
the  lay  of  the  land  and  the  underlying  rocks  are  favorable  to  their 
existence.  It  is  well  known  that  however  abundant  rainfall  and 
moisture  may  be,  no  springs  are  produced  unless  the  waters  that 
percolates  through  the  soil  are  arrested  by  some  impervious  layers 
along  which  they  can  be  carried  to  some  break  or  cut,  where  they 
can  flow  out.  Such  impervious  layers  in  Nebraska,  are  of  two  gen- 
eral types.  The  first  type,  are  those  on  or  among  the  underlying 
rocks,  along  which  the  water  flows  until  it  emerges  on  Lill  sides  or 
edge  of  valleys.  In  south-eastern  Nebraska,  many  springs  appear 
on  top  of  limestone  strata  that  underlie  loosely,  compacted  sandy 
rocks  or  shales.  Where  the  Dakota  Group  of  sand  rock  exists, 
springs  frequently  proceed  above  some  harder  layers  of  this  deposit. 
Warner's  Spring,  southwest  from  Dakota  City,  in  the  bluffs,  is  an 
instance  of  this  character.  Another  is  a  famous  spring  near  Teka- 


54  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

mah,  in  the  bluffs,  called  sometimes,  from  the  color  of  the  rocks, 
Yellow  Springs.  The  former  has  the  rock  above  the  spring  cov- 
ered with  Indian  hierogliphics.  Occasionally  springs  proceed  from 
or  near  the  line  of  junction  between  these  rocks  and  the  next  below. 
Some  impervious  layers  of  clayey,  brownish  shale  in  the  Fort  Ben- 
ton  Group,  also  arrest  the  downward  course  of  water  and  leads  it  to 
the  next  break  or  valley  of  erosion  to  appear  as  a  spring. 

The  se  ond  class  of  springs  are  those  that  proceed  from  between 
different  kinds  of  layers  of  the  drift  and  loess.  The  drift  is 
specially  remarkable  for  the  number  of  clayey  layers  that  are  inter- 
posed between  layers  of  sand  and  pebbles.  These  layers  of  clay 
carry  the  water  to  the  nearest  cut,  where  they  form  springs. 
Where  these  layers  of  clay  do  not  exist,  the  water  is  carried  along 
the  top  of  the  underlying  rocks,  if  these  happen  to  be  hard  or  com- 
pact, and  springs  as  in  the  former  case  appear  on  the  edges  of  the 
valley.  Many  of  the  springs  that  emerge  from  the  bluffs  of  all  the 
river  valleys  owe  their  origin  to  these  causes.  This  explains,  too, 
why  in  many  sections  of  the  State,  springs  are  found  (often  several 
of  them  on  every  quarter  section  of  land),  and  why  in  other  por- 
tions of  the  State  they  are  found  only  at  long  intervals.  The  more 
broken  or  rolling,  other  things  being  equal,  the  more  abundant 
they  are.  On  the  long  reaches  of  nearly  level  land  springs  occur 
at  much  longer  intervals.  On  and  near  the  top  of  the  level  water 
sheds  springs  occur  still  more  rarely. 

Water,  however,  is  abundant  even  here.  Wells  or  borings 
always  obtain  it.  Over  the  greater  portion  of  the  State,  shafts  or 
holes  sunk  down  from  fifteen  to  fifty  feet  are  sure  to  obtain  it  in 
abundance.  The  exceptions  to  this  rule  are  some  portions  of  wide 
divides  in  such  counties  as  Fillmore,  Clay,  Adams  and  Phelps, 
where  there  is  a  great  thickness  of  loess  and  drift  to  be  penetrated 
before  impervious  strata,  capable  of  holding  water  are  reached. 
Many  farmers  prefer  land  with  no  springs  or  running  water  on  it. 
There  is  less  waste,  they  claim.  A  well  with  a  wind  mill  attached 
supplies  water  to  man  and  beast  in  whatever  quantity  needed.  A 
wind  mill  and  reservoir  attached  to  a  well  not  unfrequently  is  made 
to  water  a  thousand  head  of  cattle  daily,  besides  supplying  the  wants 
of  a  household. 

Artesian  Wells  have  been  bored  in  a  few  places.  The  one  in  the 
public  square  in  Lincoln  is  one  thousand  and  fifty  feet  deep.  It  was 
put  down  in  the  hope  that  fresh  water  would  be  found.  This  effort 


WATERS   OF   NEBRASKA.  55 

was  a  failure.  At  five  hundred  and  sixty  feet  saline  water  spout- 
ed up  a  in  powerful  current.  The  contractor,  Mr.  Eaton,  however, 
was  uncertain  whether  the  brine  was  here  first  struck,  or  whether 
a  current  of  fresh  water  only  forced  it  to  the  surface.  It  was  cer- 
tain that  strong  brine  was  found  at  the  horizon  between  seventy 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet  in  the  reddish  sandstones  of  the 
Dakota  Group.  It  did  not,  however,  flow  to  the  surface.  The 
weight  of  evidence  favored  the  conclusion  that  the  salt  water  above 
was  forced  to  the  surface  by  the  stronger  currents  below,  especially 
as  the  tubing  was  so  defective  that  all  the  waters  encountered  were 
intermingled.  Between  the  level  of  five  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
and  the  end  of  the  boring  other  artesian  currents  were  struck, 
and  the  mingling  of  all  that  were  encountered  has  given  a  well  of 
water  which,  for  variety  of  salts  held  in  solution,  is  unsurpassed 
anywhere.  An  artesian  boring  was  also  made  in  Beatrice  to  the 
depth  of  twelve  hundred  feet,  without,  however,  obtaining  a  flow  of 
water  to  the  surface.  One  has  also  been  put  down  in  Omaha,  and  a 
good  flow  of  pure  water  obtained  at  a  depth  of  750  feet.  On  the 
whole,  the  geological  formations  of  Nebraska  are  favorable  for 
such  wells.  The  general  slope  is  upwards  to  the  west  and  slightly 
towards  the  north.  And  although  the  tertiary  strata  overlie  the 
cretaceous  as  we  proceed  westward,  yet  their  thickness  is  far  less 
than  the  rise  of  the  country.  The  pressure  of  water,  therefore, 
from  between  underlying  rocks  is  sufficient  to  force  it  to  the  sur- 
face from  some  point  between  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  hundred 
feet. 

SALINE  SPRINGS. 

There  are  several  localities  where  saline  springs  or  bogs  exist. 
One  of  these  is  in  Lancaster  County,  near  Lincoln.  The  largest 
here  covers  approximately  five  hundred  acres.  Others  of  smaller 
area  are  not  far  distant.  In  this  largest  basin  the  water  emerges  in 
hundreds  of  places,  and  exhibits  the  curious  phenomenon  of  vary- 
ing in  depth  through  the  day.  It  is  highest  during  the  morning. 
It  decreases  through  the  day,  and  is  at  its  lowest  point  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  About  this  time  any  one  passing  over  the 
basin  and  closely  observing  it  will  see  the  salt  water  bubbling  up 
at  hundreds  of  places.  Where  it  comes  up  in  this  way  the  water 
contains  about  ten  per  cent,  of  common  salt;  at  least  that  is  the 
mean  of  several  analyses,  and  is  also  indicated  by  the  salometer. 
Many  diverse  opinions  have  been  expressed  about  the  value  of 


56  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

these  salt  basins.  Some  have  regarded  them  as  of  little  value  and 
incapable  of  supplying  brine  in  quantity  sufficient  to  make  it  pos- 
sible to  compete  with  the  great  salt-producing  sections  of  Mich- 
igan and  New  York;  others  again  have  placed  an  extravagant 
value  on  them,  representing  them  as  capable  of  building  up 
princely  fortunes  for  any  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  possess  the 
capital  to  work  them.  The  truth  is  probably  somewhere  between 
these  extremes.  If  the  salt  water  that  flows  away  and  is  lost  were 
placed  in  reservoirs  and  evaporated  by  solar  heat,  a  richly  remu- 
nerative business  could  be  built  up.  Sooner  or  later  this  will  be 
done.  When  the  artesian  well  on  the  Government  Square  in  Lin- 
coln reached  a  depth  of  560  feet,  there  was  a  heavy  flow  of  salt 
water  to  the  surface.  The  salt  water,  however,  had  been  struck 
long  before,  but  it  did  not  flow  out.  The  salt-giving  rock  is  the 
reddish,  porous  sandstone  that  lies  between  seventy  and  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  feet  in  depth.  It  is  because  this  artesian  well 
\vas  sunk  down  over  a  thousand  feet  and  came  in  contact  with 
many  other  strata  of  rock  containing  different  kinds  of  water,  that 
the  flow  now  embraces  so  many  different  chemical  elements  An- 
other artesian  well  had  previously  been  bored  on  the  north  s'de  of 
the  main  salt  basin.  This  one  struck  a  flow  of  salt  water  at  about 
the  same  depth  as  the  one  on  the  Government  Square.  There  is 
some  uncertainty  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Eaton,  who  made  the  borings 
in  Lincoln,  whether  the  "  great  flow  "  was  produced  by  salt  water, 
or  whether  the  fresh  water  that  was  then  struck  simply  combined 
with  and  forced  out  the  salt  water.  All  the  known  facts,  however, 
go  to  support  the  view  that  salt  water  is  here  abundant,  and  only 
needs  to  be  properly  handled  to  make  it  a  most  profitable  industry. 
There  are  also  saline  springs  and  lakelets  beyond  and  near  the 
head  of  the  Elkhorn  and  Loup  rivers,  and  at  long  intervals  toward 
the  northwestern  corner  of  the  State  on  tributaries  of  the  Niobrara 
flowin^  from  the  south.  I  visited  these  under  such  unfavorable 

£•> 

circumstances  for  investigation,  that  I  am  not  prepared  to  report 
on  their  extent  or  probable  value. 

THE  RIVERS  OF  NEBRASKA 

are  distinguished  for  their  breadth,  their  number,  and  some  of  them 
for  their  rapiditity  and  depth.  In  fact,  the  name  of  Nebraska  means 
land  of  broad  rivers. 

Chief  of  all,  not  only  of  Nebraska,  but  of  the  United  States,  is  the 
Missouri,  because  it  gives  character  to  all  the  rivers  that  unite  with 


WATERS   OF    NEBRASKA.  57 

it  below  down  to  the  gulf.  Forming  the  eastern  border  of  the 
State,  and  a  small  extent  of  its  northern  boundary,  and  being  tor- 
tuous in  its  path,  at  least  five  hundred  miles  of  the  river  are  on  its 
western  and  southern  side  in  Nebraska.  It  is  deep  and  rapid.  Its 
bed  is  moving  sand,  mud  and  alluvium.  It  no  where  in  Nebras- 
ka has  rock  bottom.  Before  rock  can  be  reached  a  thickness  of 
from  forty  to  one  hundred  feet  of  sand  and  mud  must  be  penetrated 
from  low  water  mark.  Its  immediate  banks,  sometimes  on  both, 
and  almost  always  on  one  side,  are  steep — often,  indeed,  perpen- 
dicular or  leaning  over  towards  the  water.  It  is  generally  retreating 
or  advancing  from,  or  on  to  one  or  other  shore.  It  is  the  shore  from 
which  it  is  retreating  that  is  sometimes  gently  sloping,  while  the 
one  towards  which  it  is  advancing  is  steep.  This  steepness  is  produced 
by  the  undermining  of  the  banks  and  the  caving  in  that  follows. 
Near  the  bottom  there  is  a  stratum  of  sand  which  being  struck  by 
the  current  is  washed  out  and  the  bank  falls  in.  Many  acres  in 
some  places  have  been  carried  away  in  a  single  season:  The  prin- 
cipal part  of  this  "cutting"  is  done  while  the  river  is  falling. 
One  of  the  places,  famous  in  early  Nebraska  history  that  the 
Missouri  in  this  way  destroyed,  is  the  town  of  Omadi,  in  Dakota 
County.  Almost  the  entire  town  site  is  now  in  the  river.  When  the 
river  is  low  and  winding  through  bottoms  fringed  with,  in  many 
places,  dark  groves  of  cottonwood  and  other  timber,  it  is  a  sad,mel- 
ancholly,  weird  stream.  When  it  is  "on  a  big  rise,"  however,  and 
presses  forward  with  tremendous  volume  and  force  towards  the  gulf 
it  becomes  surpassingly  grand  and  majestic.  It  is  now  full  of  eddies, 
and  whole  trees  that  have  been  undermined  and  have  fallen  into 
the  river  are  dragged  forward  at  a  fearful  velocity.  It  is  never 
fordable.  Boats  of  various  kinds  were  exclusively  used  for  crossing 
the  river  until  the  advent  of  the  railroad  bridge  at  Omaha.  Another  is 
now  building  by  the  B.  and  M.  R.  R.  at  Plattsmouth,  The  water 
always  muddy  or  full  of  finely  comminuted  sand,  the  currant  rapid 
and  full  of  whirling  eddies.  It  is  a  dangerous  stream  to  trifle  with. 
Often,  indeed,  during  flood  times  does  the  boiling,  seething  mass  of 
water  look  as  if  it  had  been  stirred  up  at  bottom  with  the  sand  by 
some  mighty  convulsive  movement  of  the  earth.  Few  that  fall 
into  it  ever  reach  the  shore  alive  without  assistance.  The  clothes 
are  soon  saturated  with  the  sediment  of  the  river  which  is  always 
turbid  or  muddy,  and  sinks  the  victim  to  the  bottom.  So  well 
understood,  however,  is  this  feature  of  the  Missonri  that  no  more 


58  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

persons  are  drowned  in  it  than  in  other  rivers  of  corresponding- 
magnitude.  The  peculiar  character  of  the  Missouri  gives  unique- 
ness to  the  scenery  along  its  shores.  A  position  on  some  of  the 
terraces  or  bluffs  overlooking  the  river  give  views  of  unsurpassed 
beauty.  There  is  one  such  of  remarkable  grandeur  above  lona, 
in  Dixon  County,  where  the  river  touches  the  bluff,  throwing  its 
wide  bottom  into  Dakota  Territory.  From  this  point  the  river  can 
be  seen  towards  the  east  for  fifteen  miles.  The  jdark  cotton  wood 
groves,  the  curves  of  the  river,  the  Dakota  plain  on  the  northern 
side,  studded  with  homesteads,  constitutes  a  picture  that  rivals  in 
beauty  the  most  famous  scenes  in  the  world.  Another  equally  fine 
view  of  the  river  can  be  had  from  the  top  of  the  bluff  on  the  road 
from  Ponca  to  the  Missouri  bottom. 

With  some  obnoxious  elements  attached  to  its  character,  it  is  as 
we  have  already  seen,  a  storehouse  of  blessings  to  the  sections 
through  which  it  flows.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  Missouri  the  set- 
tlement of  this  region  would  have  been  indefinitely  delayed.  It  is 
a  highway  to  the  commerce  and  markets  of  the  world;  and  on  this 
highway  the  first  emigrants  reached  Nebraska,  and  sent  off  their 
products  to  other  regions.  As  the  Missouri  is  navigable  for  two 
thousand  miles  above  Omaha  it  was  a  great  highway  for  traffic 
with  the  mountain  regions  of  Idaho,  Dakota  and  Montana.  Since 
the  building  of  railroads  its  business  has  fallen  off.  Vessels  still 
run  from  Sioux  City  and  Yankton  to  the  upper  Missouri  and  the 
Yellowstone.  Latterly  there  are  indications  of  a  revival  of  business 
on  the  lower  Missouri.  Joseph  A.  Conner,  Esq.  has  this  season 
(Summer  of  1879)  shipped  three  boat  loads  of  produce  to  St.  Louis 
from  Plattsmouth.  The  last  load  took  down  sixty  car  loads  of 
corn  and  twelve  hundred  hogs.  It  cost  him  fifteen  cents  per  hun- 
dred against  twenty-seven  cents  which  the  railroads  charged. 
Unfortunately,  this  competition  only  lasts  through  the  summer. 
The  Missouri  is  not  navigable  for  five  or  six  months  through  the 
winter  season. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  Missouri  is  the  Platte  river.  For 
length  it  approximates  closely  to  twelve  hundred  miles.  Its  head 
waters  originate  in  the  mountains,  and  many  of  them  rise  in  beauti- 
ful lakelets  fed  by  the  everlasting  snows.  No  lakelets  for  example 
can  be  more  interesting  than  those  between  the  spurs  of  mountains 
twelve  thousend  feet  above  the  sea  level,  wrhere  the  Cache  Le 
Poudre  river  is  born.  Though  precipitous  and  eratic  in  Colorado 


WATERS   OF   NEBRASKA.  59 

and  Wyoming,  by  the  time  it  reaches  Nebraska  it  is  broad,  shallow, 
sandy,  but  still  with  a  rapid  current.  It  flows  through  the  whole 
length  of  the  State  from  east  to  west,  dividing  the  State,  but 
leaving  the  largest  part  on  the  north.  In  places  at  low  water  it  can 
IDC  forded,  though  teams  are  sometimes  in  danger  of  sticking  fast 
in  the  quick  sands.  It  is  not  navigable.  It  has  been  bridged  at 
Fremont,  Schuyler,  Grand  Island,  Kearney  Junction,  North  Platte 
and  other  points.  An  important  point  on  the  river  is  North  Platte, 
where  it  forks,  one  branch  being  known  as  the  South  Fork,  enters 
the  State  from  Colorado  near  the  angle  of  the  southwest  corner,  or 
near  the  parallel  of  41°.  The  North  Fork  enters  the  State  from 
Wyoming  near  latitude  42.  The  average  volume  of  water  at  North 
Platte  is  greater  than  at  its  mouth,  though  it  receives  in  the  meantime 
some  large  tributaries,  the  most  important  of  which  are  the  Elkhorn, 
Papillion,  Shell  Creek,  Loup  and  Wood  River.  A  few  held  that 
this  was  caused  by  evaporation.  The  tributaries,  however,  that 
enter  the  Platte  from  the  north  more  than  supply  the  waste  from 
this  cause.  The  explanation  of  this  phenomenon  is  found  in  the 
character  of  the  bottom  and  its  continuation  with  the  Drift  under- 
lying the  uplands  south  of  the  Platte.  The  bottom  of  the  Platte  is 
extremely  sandy,  and  is  continuous  with  a  sandy,  gravelly  and 
pebbly  deposit  of  the  Drift  under  the  Loess  as  far  as  to  the  Repub- 
lican. It  will  also  be  seen  in  the  lists  of  elevations  that  have  been 
given  that  the  general  level  of  the  Republican  is  three  hundred  and 
fifty-two  feet  below  that  of  the  Platte.  There  is  therefore  a  descent 
from  the  Platte  to  the  Republican,  and  along  such  a  formation  that 
there  is  easy  drainage  from  the  one  into  the  other.  That  there  is  such 
drainage  on  an  extensive  scale  I  have  no  doubt.  Wading  in  the 
Republican  in  August,  as  I  have  done  for  many  miles  at  a  time,  I 
noticed  on  the  north  side  water  ozing  out  of  the  drift  continuously 
every  few  feet  in  places,  and  rarely  at  greater  intervals  than  every 
few  rods.  Nothing  of  the  kind  was  noticed  on  its  southern  shore. 
Where  tributaries  of  the  Republican  from  the  northwest  cut  deep 
enough  to  strike  the  drift  they  share  in  the  reception  of  this  water 
from  the  Platte.  Few,  however,  do  this. 

Flood  time  for  the  Platte  is  generally  about  the  same  time  as  that 
of  the  Missouri — sometimes  a  few  days  or  weeks  earlier,  but  the 
continuance  of  both  is  so  long  that  they  meet,  though  they  rarely 
culminate  together. 


60  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  Platte  drains  principally  from  the  northwest.  Its  water  shed 
on  the  south  is  generally  only  a  few  miles  from  its  valley,  while  on 
the  norrh  it  extends  in  places  to  within  thirty-six  miles  of  the  north 
line  of  the  State. 

If  the  bottoms  and  channel  of  the  Platte  were  favorable  for  it 
there  would  be  an  abundance  of  water  for  navigation.  It  is  next 
to  impossible  for  railroads  going  to  the  mountains  to  do  all  the 
business  that  will  be  demannedof  them  when  the  Platte  Valley  and 
the  mountain  regions  are  once  developed.  Cheaper  freights  than 
these  that  railroads  furnish  will  also  be  demanded.  Then  a  canal 
can  be  built  along  side  of  the  Platte  to  receive  its  waters  from  the 
mountains  to  the  Missouri.  It  could  be  made  as  the  Suez  canal 
was,  largely  from  artificial  stone.  For  such  a  canal  the  valley  of 
the  Platte  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  world.  No  one  now  living  may 
see  such  a  work,  but  Nebraska  is  capable  of  sustaining  a  population 
so  dense  that  such  a  canal  will  be  a  necessity. 

The  Republican  River  rises  in  the  Colorado  Plains,  near  range 
49  west  of  the  6th  principal  meridian.  Here  anciently  there  was 
a  lake  whose  basin  was  about  four  miles  across.  The  outlet,  or 
river  draining  it,  however,  long  since  cut  down  the  narrow  rim 
and  drained  the  lake.  Its  head  here  in  the  old  lake  is  4,050 
feet  above  the  sea.  A  few  small  springs  new  rise  below  the 
site  of  this  old  lake,  and  produce  a  tiny  streamlet  a  foot  across. 
Other  streams,  about  or  nearly  as  large,  soon  join  it,  but  at 
the  State  line  I  could  still, — when  there  in  the  spring  of  1877,  with 
D.  N.  Smith, — jump  across  it.  Along  this  part  of  its  course  there 
are  a  few  beautiful  little  lakelets  into  which  and  from  which  it 
flows.  Here  the  water  is  cool,  and  clear  as  crystal.  When  it  re- 
ceives the  waters  of  the  Arickaree,  about  seven  miles  east  of  the 
State  line,  it  assumes  its  characteristic  character.  It  now  becomes 
shallow  and  sandy,  and  in  places  rapid.  Its  principal  tributary  in 
this  portion  of  the  State  is  the  Republican  Fork,  and  comes  from 
the  southwest.  Its  junction  with  the  Republican  is  in  range  38, 
west.  Frenchman's  Fork  is  an  important  tributary  that  rises  in 
Colorado,  and,  flowing  southeast,  joins  the  Republican  at  Culbert- 
son.  After  this  the  most  important  tributary  from  the  southwest 
is  the  Beaver.  Red  Willow  and  Medecine  Creeks,  from  the  north- 
west, are  also  important  tributaries.  An  immense  number  of  small 
creeks  flow,  every  few  miles,  into  the  Republican,  especially  from 
the  north.  This  river,  unlike  the  Platte,  increases  regularly  in 


WATERS   OF    NEBRASKA.  61 

breadth  and  volume  all  the  way  from  its  source  to  its  exit  from  the 
State,  in  Nuckalls  County.  It  is  forded  in  many  places,  and  the 
only  clanger  is  from  quicksands.  There  is  little  danger  with  a 
team  that  does  not  balk  in  the  water.  It  is  already  bridged  in  va- 
rious places.  As  was  stated  in  the  discussion  of  the  Platte  River, 
the  Republican  receives  by  subterranean  drainage  a  portion  of  the 
waters  of  the  former. 

The  Niobrara  River,  from  its  source,  in  Wyoming,  to  its  mouth, 
is  460  miles  long.  Its  source,  in  Wyoming,  is  5,100  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  At  the  State  line  it  is  about  ten  feet  wide,  and  of  beau- 
tiful, clear,  running  water.  Its  elevation  here  above  the  sea  level 
approximates  closely  to  4,594  feet.  It  continues  to  be  clear 
and  sparkling,  but  widening  to  about  fifteen  feet  down  to  longi- 
tude 103°  15'.  From  this  point  it  widens  rapidly  until,  in  longitude 
102°  30',  it  is  from  sixty  to  eighty  yards  wide.  Here  it  enters  a 
canyon  whose  walls  are  high  and  steep.  This  canyon  region  con- 
tinues down  to  longitude  99°  20',  or  about  180  miles.  After  its 
emergence  from  the  canyon  it  is  still  a  broad,  rapid,  sandy  river  to 
its  mouth.  Owing  to  its  rapidity  and  quicksands,  it  is  exceedingly 
difficult  to  ford  in  the  lower  part  of  its  course.  At  least,  this  was 
my  own  experience.  After  sticking  fast  in  the  quicksands  a  few 
times,  and  being  compelled  to  take  a  wagon  apart  and  carry  every- 
thing to  shore,  the  river  loses  all  romance  for  the  explorer.  In  the 
lower  part  of  its  course  there  are  many  low  islands,  mostly  cov- 
ered with  timber.  It  flows  into  the  Missouri  in  range  6,  west,  and 
32,  north. 

There  are  numerous  tributaries  of  the  Niobrara,  most  of  which 
are  of  small  size.  On  the  south  side,  the  first  of  importance  is  the 
Verdigris.  This  beautiful  stream,  which  rises  in  Antelope  County 
and  flows  north  through  the  west  end  of  Knox  County,  flows  into 
the  Niobrara  six  miles  from  its  mouth.  Between  this  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Keya  Paha,  on  the  south  side,  there  are  a  great  num- 
ber of  small  tributaries.  From  the  mouth  of  the  Keya  Paha  to 
the  Wazihonska  there  are  also  a  great  number  of  small  tributaries, 
and  the  most  of  these  are  remarkable  for  the  great  number  of  fine 
springs  of  water  which  feed  them,  and  for  the  groves  of  pine  and 
oak  on  their  narrow  bottoms  and  on  their  bluffs.  The  word 
Wazihonska  signifies,  in  the  Dakota  language,  "  the  place  where 
the  pine  extends  far  out."  This  stream  is  about  forty-five  miles 
long,  and  its  valley,  though  much  narrower,  closely  resembles  that 


62  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  the  Niobrara.  Snake  River  is  the  next  tributary  of  importance. 
Its  mouth  is  near  longitude  100°  45'.  Its  bed  is  thirty-five  yards 
wide,  and  it  has  a  narrow  valley.  Its  bluffs  are  covered  with  pine. 
Beyond  Snake  River  there  are  no  large  branches  coming  in  from 
the  south. 

The  Keya  Paha  is  the  first  large  tributary  above  its  mouth  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Niobrara.  It  is  about  125  miles  long.  Where 
I  crossed  it,  fifty  miles  above  its  mouth,  is  has  a  fine  valley,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  wide,  with  a  good  soil,  and  some  cottonwood 
timber.  The  bed  of  the  river,  like  that  of  the  Niobrara,  is  sandy, 
but  its  waters  are  clear,  and  delicious  to  the  taste.  At  its  mouth  it 
is  about  fifty-five  yards  wide.  The  next  tributary  from  the  north- 
west is  Rapid  Creek,  which,  however,  is  only  nine  yards  wide  at 
its  mouth.  It  connects  with  the  Niobrara  in  longitude  100°  23'. 
Its  valley  is  in  some  places  half  a  mile  wide,  and  the  soil  is,  judging 
from  the  vegetation,  quite  fertile.  A  few  small  trees  fringe  its 
banks.  It  is  about  fifty-five  miles  long.  Reunion  Creek,  which 
flows  into  the  Niobrara  at  longitude  101°  18',  has  hardly  any  bot- 
tom, and  flows  between  lofty  rock  bluffs,  very  hard  to  ascend  or  de- 
scend. At  its  mouth  it  is  fifty-eight  yards  wide,  and  has  clear,  cold, 
rapid-running  water. 

At  longitude  101°  30'  a  creek  flows  into  the  Niobrara,  a  little 
more  than  half  the  size  of  Rapid  Creek,  which  it  closely  resem- 
bles. Above  this  there  are  a  great  number  of  small  rivulets, 
which  flow  into  the  Niobrara,  many  of  which  are  dry  except  in 
rainy  weather-  They,  however,  indicate  the  former  abundance  of 
water  here,  and  will,  with  the  growing  moisture  and  rainfall  of  the 
State,  again,  no  doubt,  become  permanent  fresh-water  streams. 
The  peculiarities  of  the  exceptional  characters  of  the  Niobrara 
region  are  given  in  a  former  paragraph  under  this  head. 

The  White  River  flows  through  Northwestern  Nebraska  It 
enters  the  State  from  Wyoming,  flows  eastward  and  northeast- 
ward, north  of  the  Niobrara,  until  it  enters  Dakota  Territory, 
a  little  east  of  longitude  103°.  It  has  its  source  not  far  from  that 
of  the  Niobrara,  near  a  sudden  descent  of  500  feet,  south  of  Hat 
Creek  Station,  on  the  road  from  Fort  Laramie.  This  abrupt  de- 
scent, when  approached  from  the  south,  is  not  suspected  until  it  is 
reached.  Sometimes  this  descent  is  a  slope  that  a  team  can  climb, 
and  again  it  changes  to  a  bare  wall  five  hundred  feet  high.  Nu- 
merous brooks  flow  down  the  gullies  and  ravines  formed  on  the 


%  WATERS  OF  NEBRASKA.  63 

side  of  this  steep  ascent  and  wall,  and  these  go  to  form  White 
River.  The  road  from  Hat  Creek  Station  to  Camp  Robinson, 
thirty  miles  distant,  lies  near  its  base.  "  From  Hat  Creek  the 
trend  is  a  little  south  of  east  for  thirty-eight  miles  to  the  point 
where  this  road  makes  its  steep  and  difficult  ascent."  ««  Beyond 
this  point  it  runs  northeasterly  for  a  few  miles,  then  southerly  un- 
til it  meets  and  terminates  the  northern  bluffs  of  White  River,  iii 
the  prominent  landmark  called  Soldiers'  Grove  Cliffs,  north  of  and 
overlooking  Camp  Robinson."  *  *  *  "It  was  traced  eastward 
to  Camp  Sheridan,  forming  the  southern  border  of  White  River 
valley." — (Captain  Stanton.)  Hence,  the  river  and  its  valley  are 
shut  out  from  the  rest  of  Nebraska  by  this  natural  barricade  on  the 
south.  On  most  maps  of  the  State,  this  range  is  represented  too  far 
to  the  north.  It  forms  in  the  midst  of  a  valley  otherwise  easily 
traversed.  The  White  River  in  Nebraska  has  many  small  trib- 
utaries, many  of  which  are  beautiful,  clear  rivulets.  Except  the 
ridge  just  mentioned,  it  flows  through  a  rather  gently  rolling 
country. 

The  Elkhorn  River,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  streams  of  the 
State.  It  rises  west  of  Holt  and  Elkhorn  Counties.  Near  its 
source  the  valley  widens  to  a  very  great  breadth,  and  the  bluffs 
bordering  it  are  low  and  often  almost  inappreciable.  In  the 
region  of  its  source  especially  south  of  the  centre  of  the  valley,  are 
a  great  number  of  beautiful,  small,  fresh  water  lakes.  Within  a 
region  eighteen  by  twelve  miles  square,  there  are  at  least  twenty  of 
these  lakelets,  most  of  which  drain  into  the  headwaters  of  the  West 
Fork  of  the  Elkhorn.  It  soon  becomes  in  size  a  respectable 
stream.  In  the  eastern  border  of  Madison  County  it  receives  the 
North  Branch  of  the  Elkhorn,  which  rises  in  the  southern  part 
of  Knox  County.  Unlike  the  West  Fork,  or  main  branch,  it  does 
not  originate  in  a  lake  region,  but  in  a  region  of  innumerable 
small  springs.  The  channel  is  full  of  water  holes,  between  which 
the  water  often  in  midsummer  flows  under-ground.  Soon  it  looses 
this  character  and  becomes  a  rapid,  clear,  deep  and  beautiful 
stream.  The  general  direction  of  the  main  river  approximates  to 
250  miles.  Its  direction  is  southeast.  It  empties  into  the  Platte 
in  the  western  part  of  Sarpy  County.  For  a  large  part  of  its 
course,  the  Elkhorn  flows  over  rock  bottom.  It  has  considerable 
fall,  and  its  steady,  large  volume  of  waters  will  render  it  a  most 
valuable  manufacturing  region. 


64  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  Logan  is  the  most  important  tributary  of  the  Elkhorn. 
It  rises  principally  in  Cedar  County.  Of  several  branches  of  this 
river,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  which  is  the  longest  or  deserves  the 
name  of  principal  stream.  They  all  originate  in  bogs  or  old 
filled  up  lake  beds.  Large  beds  of  peat  are  here  found.  After 
erne  -gi  ig  from  these  bogs,  which  lie  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  gently  rolling  lands  conceivable,  these  Logan  streams 
soon  become  constant,  clear,  and  rapid.  The  bottoms  are  pebbly 
or  sandy.  There  are  many  of  these  branches  in  Wayne  County, 
which  through  their  instrumentality,  has  among  the  finest  physi- 
cal features  of  any  sections  of  the  State.  There  are  numerous 
smaller  tributaries  of  the  Elkhorn,  all  of  which  have  characters  in 
a  miner  degree  like  the  parent  stream.  The  general  direction 
of  all  these  Logan  rivers,  is  southeast,  until  Burt  County  is 
reached,  after  which  it  is  south,  until  a  junction  is  formed  with  the 
Elkhorn  in  the  eastern  portion  of  Dodge  County. 

The  Bow  Rivers  in  northeastern  Nebraska  are  not  known  as 
they  deserve  to  be.  They  are  known  as  the  East,  the  Middle  and 
the  West  Bows.  No  rivers  of  the  State  have  interested  me  more. 
The  water  is  clear  and  cold.  They  originate  in  the  coolest  and 
most  delightful  springs  of  mostly  soft  water.  In  the  centre 
of  Cedar  County,  near  Curlew,  there  is  a  spring  of  cold  water  that 
emerges  from  a  bluff  strong  enough  to  turn  a  mill.  In  fact,  almost 
every  half  mile,  along  these  rivers,  these  magnificent  springs  make 
their  appearance.  Except  the  East  Bow,  their  general  direction 
is  northeast.  The  East  Bow  flows  northwest  until  it  unites  wTith 
the  Middle  Bow.  Below  St.  James,  all  united  they  join  their 
waters  to  those  of  the  Missouri.  Sooner  or  later,  when  fish  cul- 
ture receives  the  •  attention  in  this  State,  which  it  deserves,  these 
Bow  Rivers  will  become  noted  as  trout  streams. 

The  Nemahas  early  became  noted  rivers  in  Nebraska.  The 
north  branch  of  the  Nemaha  runs  in  a  southeasterly  direction, 
diagonally  through  Johnson  and  Richardson  Counties,  until  it 
unites  with  the  main  river,  in  the  latter  county.  Its  length  is 
about  sixty  miles  and  increases  regularly  in  size,  from  its  source  to 
its  mouth,  by  the  addition  of  numerous  tributaries.  The  main 
Nemaha  rises  in  Pawnee  County,  takes  a  southerly  direction  into 
Kansas,  then  turns  northeast  into  Richardson  County  and  then 
flows  a  little  south  of  east,  until  it  unites  with  the  Missouri  near 
the  southeast  corner  of  the  State.  Its  length  is  but  sixty  miles, 


WATERS    OF    NEBRASKA.  65 

but  it  receives  so  many  comparatively  large  tributaries,  that  its 
magnitude  at  the  end  of  its  course  is  much  greater  than  many 
much  longer  rivers.  The  bottom  lands  of  these  rivers  are  broad, 
often  beautifully  terraced,  and  the  bordering  bluffs  are  gently 
rounded  off.  The  impression  left  on  the  mind,  after  traversing 
these  valleys,  is  that  their  beauty  cannot  be  surpassed.  The  fall 
-and  size  of  these  rivers  and  their  larger  tributaries,  will  supply 
motive  power  to  an  immense  number  of  manufacturing  industries. 
The  Little  Nemaha  is  a  smaller  edition  of  the  "  Big  Nemaha." 
It  rises  in  Cass  County,  flows  in  a  southeasterly  direction  through 
Otoe,  and  Nemaha  Counties,  and  unites  with  the  Missouri  near 
Nemaha  City,  in  Nemaha  County.  It  also  has  numerous  tribu- 
taries. It  is  a  beautiful  stream  of  water,  and  with  its  characteristic 
wide  bottoms  and  gently  rounded  bluffs,  gives  character  to  the 
counties  through  which  it  flows. 

The  Blues  are  among  the  most  important  rivers  of  Nebraska. 
The  main  branch  with  its  tributaries  drains  eight  counties,  which 
are  among  the  best  in  the  State.  It  is  about  132  miles  long.  It 
rises  in  Hamilton  County,  and  after  flowing  for  thirty-six  miles,  a 
little  northeast,  it  curves  around  and  follows  a  southeast  direction 
through  Butler,  Seward,  Saline,  and  Gage  Counties.  It  enters 
Kansas  from  the  Otpe  Reservation,  where  it  ultimately  unites 
with  the  Republican.  The  Middle  Fork  of  the  Blue  also  rises  in 
Hamilton  County,  and  flowing  first  a  little  north  of  east,  unites 
with  the  North  Blue  at  Seward.  Its  length  is  about  sixty  miles. 
The  West  Fork  of  the  Big  Blue  rises  in  Hall  County  and  flows  a 
little  north  of  east  through  Hamilton,  then  east  through  York, 
and  then  southeast  through  Seward,  and  finally  unites  with  the 
main  Blue,  five  miles  above  Crete  in  Saline  County.  School 
Creek  and  Beaver  Creek  are  tributaries  of  the  West  Fork  of 
nearly  the  size  of  the  parent  stream.  Turkey  Creek  is  also  a 
large  tributary  from  the  northwest,  which  unites  with  the  Blue 
near  the  line  of  junction,  between  Saline  and  Page  Counties.  All 
these  Blue  Rivers  and  their  tributaries,  few  of  which  can  even  be 
alluded  to,  are  remarkable  for  the  amount  of  water  which  they 
carry  off,  and  the  great  beauty  of  the  bottom  lands  through  which 
they  meander.  The  uplands  between  the  bottoms  are  also  for  the 
most  part  gentlv  rolling  and  composed  of  the  richest  soil.  The 
bottoms  are  often  terraced,  and  the  materials  in  such  cases  are 
mostly  of  a  Loess  character.  The  bluffs  bordering  these  bottom 

5 


66  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

lands  are  generally  gently  rounded  off,  and  infinitely  varied.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  the  mind  could  imagine  a  section  better  sup- 
plied with  rivers  and  creeks  and  rivulets  giving  an  abundance 
of  water  privileges  of  the  best  character.  There  is  such  an  abun- 
dance of  water  in  these  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  and  the  fall 
adequate,  that  the  motive  power  is  ready  to  propel  a  vast  amount 
of  machinery  for  manufacturing  industries.  With  superior  water 
privileges  and  the  choicest  lands  a  dense  population  must  here 
rapidly  accumulate. 

There  is  still  another  Blue  River  that  rises  in  Adams  County 
and  flows  in  a  southwesterly  direction  through  Clay,  Nuckolls, 
Thayer,  and  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Jefferson  County,  enters 
Kansas  where  it  finally  unites  with  the  "  Big  Blue."  About  no 
miles  of  this  river  are  in  Nebraska.  In  its  most  important  features, 
it  resembles  the  "  Big  Blue."  Like  the  last,  it  is  a  magnificent 
stream.  It  also  has  numerous  tributaries,  which  are  in  miniature, 
what  the  parent  stream  is. 

The  Lottos,  next  to  the  Niobrara,  are  the  most  unique  rivers  in 
Nebraska.  Even  these  streams,  however,  have  many  things  in 
common  with  the  other  rivers  of  Nebraska.  The  whole  length 
of  the  middle  or  main  Loup  approximates  to  250  miles.  It  rises 
a  little  east  of  the  102°  parallel  and  fifty  miles  from  the  north  line 
of  the  State.  My  barometer  indicated  3,230  feet  above  the  sea 
level  for  this  point.  There  are  a  great  number  of  small  lakes  and 
lakelets.  I  counted  nine  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles.  Some 
of  them  drain  into  the  Loup.  It  flows  in  a  southeastern  direction 
until  the  southeast  corner  of  Howard  County  is  reached,  when  it 
turns  first  a  little  north  of  east,  and  then  a  little  south  of  east,  and 
unites  with  the  Platte,  near  Columbus,  commencing  at  its  lower 
end  on  the  north  side.  Its  first  important  tributary  is  the  Beaver, 
and  then  Cedar  Creek,  which  originally  took  its  name  from  the 
Cedar  Groves  along  its  banks.  The  North  Loup  also  rises  among 
a  cluster  of  small  lakes,  a  little  east  of  the  101°  meridian  and  forty- 
five  miles  from  the  north  line  of  the  State.  Here  I  found  a  dozen 
of  small  lakes  within  a  radius  of  eight  miles,  and  many  of  them 
of  great  beauty,  with  pebbly  and  sandy  bottoms,  and  with  water 
clear  as  crystal.  Calamus  Creek  is  its  most  important  tributary. 
I  regret  that  I  failed  to  reach  its  source.  The  entire  length  of  this 
Loup,  until  its  junction  with  the  Middle  Loup  is  150  miles.  Its 
general  direction  is  southeast.  Perhaps  there  is  no  more  interest- 


WATERS   OF   NEBRASKA.  67 

ing  and  beautiful  valley  in  all  Nebraska  than  the  North  Loup. 
The  water  is  of  crystal  clearness  and  the  fertility  of  the  valley  is 
very  great.  The  scenery  is  varied.  This  judgment  formed 
twelve  years  ago,  is  more  than  confirmed  since  its  settlement. 
Corn  and  the  cereal  grains  are  most  successfully  produced. 
Timber  and  fruit  trees  are  grown  with  an  ease  surpassed  nowhere 
in  the  State. 

On  the  south  side  the  main  tributaries  are  Mud  Creek  and  the 
South  Loup.  This  latter  river  rises  immediately  beyond  the  west 
boundary  of  Custer  County,  and  flows  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
into  Buffalo  County,  and  then  northeast  to  its  junction  with  the 
Middle  Loup  in  Howard  County.  There  are  a  large  number  of 
smaller  tributaries.  The  rivers  are  in  places  excessively  sandy  and 
quite  rapid.  The  quality  of  the  bottom  lands  vary  more  than  in 
other  Nebraska  valleys.  There  are  many  sandy  elevations  here. 
At  the  ordinary  level  there  is  a  somewhat  sandy  loam,  rich  in 
humus  and  of  a  dark  color.  In  depressions  slightly  below  the  level 
of  the  former,  and  often  of  a  cloggy  texture,  the  alkaline  soil 
occurs.  Slightly  elevated  above  both  these  varieties  is  a  coarser 
sandy  soil.  These  different  soils  often  shade  into  each  other,  and 
again  they  are  sharply  outlined.  The  good  soil,  however,  greatly 
predominates  over  the  inferior  varieties.  Very  little  of  the  alkaline 
soil  however  can  be  called  poor.  Cultivation  permits  the  waters  to 
percolate  through  it  and  carry  to  lower  levels  the  excess  of  alkaline 
matter,  and  much  is  consumed  by  the  crops  that  are  cultivated, 
especially  in  wet  seasons.  Here  as  elsewhere  over  the  State,  where 
these  soils  occur,  a  few  years  of  cultivation  often  renders  them 
equal  to  the  best  in  the  State. 

Towards  the  head  of  the  Loups  the  sand  hills  in  places  crowd  the 
bottom  lands.  Where  they  occur  travel  is  difficult.  Often  where 
they  are  most  abundant  they  suddenly  cease  and  the  country 
changes  to  a  gently  rolling  plain  of  first  and  second  class  land. 
Some  explorers  have  pronounced  one-half  of  the  region  of  the 
Loups  waste  land.  This  is  certainly  by  one-half  too  high.  And  if 
one-fourth  of  the  upper  Loup  region  is  taken  up  with  sand  hills 
they  still  make  choice  pasture  or  grazing  grounds.  It  is  remarkable 
that  where  twelve  years  ago  the  sand  hills  were  comparatively 
bare  they  have  now,  through  the  influence  of  increasing  rainfall, 
become  covered  to  some  extent  with  a  growth  of  nutritious  grasses. 
This  is  proof,  if  any  were  needed,  of  the  abundance  of  mineral 
fertilizers  which  these  sands  contain. 


68  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Salt  Creek  derives  its  name  from  the  number  of  saline  springs 
and  bogs  that  unite  with  it  in  Lancaster  County.  It  is  formed  near 
Lincoln  by  the  junction  of  Oak  Creek,  Middle  Creek,  South  Creek 
and  other  small' streams.  From  this  place  it  flows  in  a  northeast- 
erly direction  until  it  unites  with  the  Platte  below  Ashland.  It  is 
a  rather  deep  stream  with  a  muddy  bottom.  Its  valley  is  composed 
of  remarkably  fine  bottom  lands.  The  slope  from  the  bottom  up 
to  the  top  of  the  bluff  on  the  southeast  side  is  exceptionally  gentle. 
In  many  places  it  is  impossible  to  tell  where  the  bottom  leaves  off 
and  the  upland  begins.  The  characteristics  of  the  salt  springs  are 
discussed  under  the  head  of  the  Historical,  Superficial  and  Econom- 
ical Geology  of  the  State. 

There  are  many  other  rivers  of  Nebraska  to  which  our  limits 
will  not  permit  us  even  to  allude.  Important,  however,  among 
these  are  the  Weeping  Water  in  Cass  County,  the  Wahoo  in 
Saunders  County,  Elk  Creek  in  Dakota  County,  and  South  and 
West  Iowa  Creeks  in  Dixon  County.  All  possess  more  or  less 
of  the  general  character  of  Nebraska  rivers.  Traveling  over  the 
State  in  almost  any  direction,  and  the  study  of  a  good  map, 
demonstrates  that  this  State  is  eminently  the  land  of  many  and 
broad  rivers.  Many  of  the  smaller  streams,  however,  in  eastern 
Nebraska  are  losing  their  character  of  broad  and  shallow  streams. 
They  are  becoming  deep  streams.  They  have,  since  the  settlement 
of  the  country,  been  cutting  deep  between  their  banks.  Many 
streams  which  sixteen  years  ago  could  be  stepped  across  are  now 
wider,  and  very  much  deeper  than  then,  and  running  between  such 
high  banks  that  they  can  only  be  readily  crossed  by  bridges.  Shut 
out  from  the  influence  of  the  sun  their  evaporation  is  much  less, 
and  their  size  increases  from  this  cause  as  well  as  from  the  increase 
of  rainfall. 

The  water  supply,  therefore,  of  Nebraska,  is  most  bountiful. 
Rivers  or  creeks — often  both — are  found  in  every  county.  The 
number  of  rivulets  is  enormous.  Where  springs  fail  to  appear 
water  can  be  obtained  by  wells. 

THE  WATER  POWER 

of  Nebraska  is  simply  enormous.  As  the  rise  of  the  State  towards  the 
west  approximates  to  seven  and  a  half  feet  to  the  mile,  the  fall  of  most 
of  the  streams  averages  at  least  one-half  of  that.  Were  the  streams 
straight,  they  would  average  the  same  fall  as  the  rise  of  the  country, 


WATERS   OF   NEBRASKA.  69 

but  fhey  all  meander  more  or  less  through  their  wide  bottoms. 
Every  few  miles,  however,  places  can  be  found  on  most  of  the 
creeks  and  rivers  where  the  fall  is  from  seven  to  ten  feet  to  the 
mile,  and  even  more,  for  the  reason  that  the  descent  is  very 
irregular,  being  much  greater  at  some  points  than  at  others. 
Where  there  is  no  fall  for  a  mile,  it  is  made  up  by  a  more  rapid 
descent  further  on.  Counting  in  then  all  the  creeks  and  rivers  of 
the  State  the  motive  power  that  is  now  wasted  and  waits  tobe'used 
is  beyond  calculation. 

The  dams  built  across  the  Nebraska  rivers  are  best  modeled  after 
those  of  the  beavers.  These  brute  engineers  constructed  their  dams 
by  laying  sticks  and  twigs  up  and  down  the  streams  across  their, 
currents,  and  filling  in  the  interstices  with  mud.  It  has  been  found 
by  experience  that  mill  dams  constructed  in  this  way,  with  brush, 
wherever  there  is  no  rock  bottom,  most  successfully  resist  the 
action  of  floods.  In  fact,  very  few  dams  well  built  on  this  plan 
have  ever  been  disturbed  by  the  severest  freshets. 


70  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DRAINAGE    OF  NEBRASKA  AND  CHARACTER    OF 

ITS  WATER. 

General  Character  of  the  Drainage — Character  of  the  Water — Source  of 
Impurities — Character  of  the  River  Water — Temperature  of  the  Missouri 
River  Water — Water  of  the  Platte,  Republican  and  Bow  Rivers. 

GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  DRAINAGE. 

FROM  the  preceding  presentation  of  facts,  and  the  discussions 
concerning  them,  it  is  clear  that  the  drainage  system  of  Ne- 
braska is  complete.  The  State,  as  a  whole,  slopes  eastward,  and  a 
little  southward.  There  is  little  flat  land.  The  great  body  of  the 
State  varies  from  a  very  gently,  almost  imperceptibly  rolling  region, 
to  one  that  is  made  up  of  rounded,  hill-like  masses,  with  long,  gentle 
slopes.  The  subsoil  is  the  best  in  the  world  for  drainage,  being 
made  up  principally  of  Loess  materials,  and,  where  these  run  out, 
is  composed  of  Alluvium,  or  Drift.  The  Loess  contains  eighty 
per  cent,  of  finely  comminuted  silica,  and  as  this  deposit  is  of  enor- 
mous average  thickness,  it  absorbs  excessive  rainfall  like  a  sponge. 
The  Alluvium  also  contains  a  large  amount  of  silica,  and  the  Drift 
is  noted  for  that  material.  The  average  elevation  of  the  whole 
State  is  about  2,312  feet  above  the  sea.  In  the  lay  of  the  land, 
therefore,  its  physical  character,  its  slope,  and  elevation  above  the 
sea,  it  is  in  the  best  possible  condition  for  perfect  drainage.  It  is 
owing  to  this  combination  of  causes  that  farmers  are  seldom,  in  the 
wettest  weather,  delayed  more  than  a  day  or  two  in  plowing.  In 
fact,  as  soon  as  the  rain  ceases,  in  most  soils,  they  can  plow  with- 
out injury  to  the  land.  It  is  also  owing  to  these  causes  that  Ne- 
braska possesses  such  admirable  natural  roads.  Twelve  hours  after 
the  heaviest  rains  the  roads  are  comparatively  dry.  It  is  true  that 
roads  that  cross  creek  bottoms  are  sometimes  an  exception  ;  and 
this  is  because  occasionally  there  are  longer  or  shorter  distances 
here  that  are  underlaid  with  strata  of  clayey  material.  Here  the 


DRAINAGE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  WATER.         71 

water  stands  longer,  and  in  the  rainy  season  the  mud  may  continue 
for  a  few  weeks  or  a  month.  Such  cases  only  attract  attention  be- 
cause of  the  general  dryness  of  the  roads.  Less  road  taxis  needed 
than  in  any  other  State.  The  obstacles  to  good  roads  are  the 
creek  and  river  crossings,  which  are  everywhere  being  rapidly 
bridged.  It  is  sometimes  objected  that  there  are  peat  bogs  in  the 
State,  and,  at  long  intervals,  a  few  marshes.  These  are,  however, 
the  remnants  of  old  lakes,  and  these,  having  a  small  accumulation 
of  clay  on  their  bottoms,  retain  the  water,  and  make  possible  that 
accumulation  of  peaty  matter,  much  of  which  may  eventually  be- 
come important  for  fuel. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  WATER. 

The  commonest  ingredient  of  the  water  of  springs  and  wells  is 
carbonate  of  lime.  Then  follow,  in  minute  and  varying  quanti- 
ties, in  different  springs,  carbonate  of  potash  and  soda,  sulphate  of 
potash,  magnesia,  soda  and  lime,  chlorides  of  sodium,  and  potas- 
sium, and  iron  and  free  carbonic  acid.  Many  springs  are  free  from 
the  most  of  these  salts.  Carbonate  of  lime,  the  commonest  of 
these  impurities,  is  seldom  present  in  injurious  quantites.  Perhaps 
three-fourths  of  the  springs  and  wells  of  the  State  contain  it,  in 
amount  varying  from  a  trace  to  distinctly  hard  water.  There  are 
many  springs  and  wells  whose  waters  are  remarkably  soft.  Those 
along  the  Bow  Rivers  are  mainly  of  this  character.  Generally, 
where  springs  emerge  from  the  gravel  beds  and  pebble,  or  strata 
of  sand  in  the  Drift,  the  waters  are  soft,  and  otherwise  remarkably 
pure.  Wells  sunk  into  such  deposits  are  also  apt  to  be  free  from 
lime,  or  contain  it  in  only  minute  quantity.  On  the  other  hand, 
water  obtained  in  the  Loess,  whether  from  springs  or  from  wells, 
has  a  perceptible  quantity  of  carbonate  of  lime,  and  a  small  quan- 
tity of  iron  in  solution.  There  are  also  strata  in  the  Drift  contain- 
ing a  large  amount  of  lime,  and  this  often  is  the  source  of  the 
hardness  of  the  water  that  proceeds  from  this  deposit.  In  general, 
the  water  of  springs  and  wells  is  remarkably  clear  and  cool,  and 
free  from  injurious  ingredients.  The  reader,  of  course,  under- 
stands that  such  a  thing  as  absolutely  pure  water  is  an  impossi- 
bility, except  by  distillation.  It  is  the  salts  that  natural  water  con- 
tains that  make  it  palatable.  It  rarely  happens  that  any  organic 
matter  is  present  in  a  spring  or  well,  unless  it  gets  there  through 
the  carelessness  of  men.  This  leads  us  to  consider  the 


72  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

SOURCE  OF  IMPURITIES. 

Sometimes  the  water  of  springs  and  wells  has  a  disagreeable 
taste  from  an  excessive  quantity  of  iron  that  is  present.  It  may  be 
a  peroxide  of  iron,  but  more  frequently  it  is  a  sulphate  or  sulphu- 
ret.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with  springs  and  wells  that  flow 
over  or  through  rocks  of  Cretaceous  age,  abounding  in  iron 
pyrites,  the  decomposition  of  which,  and  combination  with  the 
\vater,  gives  it  its  peculiar  iron  and  sulphur  taste.  The  Dakota 
group,  for  example,  abounds  in  peroxide  of  iron,  and  the  Fort 
Benton  group  in  iron  pyrites.  Seme  strata  of  the  upper  carbon- 
iferous equally  abound  in  the  compounds  of  iron.  I  have  some- 
times been  called  on  to  decide  the  character  of  such  water,  on  the 
supposition  that  it  was  impregnated  with  organic  matter,  but,  on 
analysis,  nothing  could  be  found  except  iron  and  sulphur,  besides 
the  ordinary  salts  that  are  universally  present.  Such  waters  are 
probably  more  disagreeable  than  unhealthy. 

Impurities  from  the  presence  of  organic  matter  in  water  are  far 
more  fatal  to  health.  There  is  no  need  for  the  occurrence  of  such 
cases,  but,  unfortunately,  through  ignorance  or  carelessness,  they 
do  occur. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  filth  is  permitted  to  accumulate  near 
wells,  and,  too  often,  all  unsuspected,  drains  into  them  from  the 
surface.  Owing,  however,  to  the  porous  nature  of  the  soil,  filth 
more  frequently  drains  into  them  by  subterranean  passages.  I 
have  frequently  been  called  to  examine  well  water  that  was  be- 
lieved to  be  the  cause  of  illness  in  families.  Often  I  found  organic 
matter,  which  frequently  was  partly  composed  of  uric  acid.  The 
source  could  universally  be  traced  to  a  sewer,  vault  or  cattle-yard 
near  by.  In  fact,  in  such  a  soil  as  that  of  Nebraska,  no  filth,  and 
especially  no  sewer  matter,  should  ever  be  placed  within  seventy- 
five  feet  of  a  well  or  spring.  It  is  almost  absolutely  certain  to 
drain  into  a  well  if  closer  than  that.  One  hundred  feet,  or  more,, 
would  be  a  safer  distance.  This  is  often  inconvenient,  and  some- 
times nigh  impossible  in  towns.  Under  such  circumstances,  where 
\vater  works  cannot  be  provided,  families  should  depend  on  filtered 
cistern  water  for  household  use.  Where  rainfall  is  as  abundant  as 
here,  cisterns  can  be  made  capacious  enough  to  supply  water  for 
households  during  the  whole  year.  More  sickness,  I  am  confident, 
is  caused  by  well  water  that  has  been  permitted  to  become  tainted 


DRAINAGE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  WATER.          73 

by  foul  matter  than  from  all  other  causes.  Even  in  the  country, 
where  these  faults  could  so  readily  be  avoided,  wells  are  too  often 
located  alongside  of  the  cattle-yard,  or  close  by  a  cesspool.  The 
inevitable  consequence  is,  that  the  water  sooner  or  later  becomes 
impure,  by  the  presence  of  decayed  animal  matter. 

Another  source  of  impurity,  though  by  no  means  as  dangerous 
as  the  last,  is  the  curbing  used  for  wells.  The  water  of  wells  often 
gains  a  bad  repute  by  the  disagreeable  taste  and  odor  given  to  it  by 
the  cottonwood  or  pine  lumber  which  is  used  to  protect  them  from 
caving  at  the  bottom.  The  first  settlers,  before  stone  quarries  were 
opened,  or  brick  were  burned,  resorted  to  this  method  to  secure 
their  wells.  It  is  still  practiced  to  a  large  extent  in  many  sections 
of  the  State.  Frequently,  in  examining  wells  that  were  declared 
to  be  unfit  for  use,  nothing  was  found  the  matter  with  them  except 
this  wooden  curbing,  which  had  imparted  to  it  its  own  taste. 

CHARACTER  OF  RIVER  WATER. 

The  waters  of  the  creeks  and  rivers  of  Nebraska  must  neces- 
sarily vary  a  great  deal  in  character.  That  of  the  Missouri  is  the 
most  peculiar.  It  is  always  muddy.  It  has  this  character  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  above  which  the  Missouri  is,  for  a  larger 
part  of  the  year,  a  clear  stream.  It  is  the  Yellowstone  that  gives 
character  to  the  Missouri,  it  being,  like  the  Missouri  below  their 
junction,  turbid  to  its  source.  In  1873  I  collected  water  from  its 
channel,  at  Omaha,  during  high  water,  when  the  bank  was  nearly 
full,  and  in  October,  during  low  water,  at  the  same  place.  The 
sediment  was  separated  by  filtration,  and  the  amount  was  as  fol- 
lows: At  high  water,  403.7  grains  from  one  gallon;  at  low  water, 
51.9  grains  from  one  gallon. 

This  result  differed  slightly  from  that  of  Prof.  Emmons,  of  the 
Iowa  geological  survey.  His  determination  was  as  follows:  At 
high  water,  404  grains  per  gallon;  at  low  water,  52  grains  per  gal- 
lon. The  amount  of  suspended  sediment  at  high  water  is,  there- 
fore, upwards  of  seven  times  as  much  as  at  low  water.  It  was 
found,  however,  that  the  amount  of  solid  matter  held  in  solution, 
was  greatest  at  low  water.  This  would  naturally  be  expected,  as 
during  flood  time  the  sediment  has  but  recently  been  added  to  the 
water,  but  by  the  time  low  water  arrives,  the  river  has  exercised 
its  solvent  powers.  In  the  chapter  on  the  Superficial  Deposits 
of  Nebraska,  the  reader  will  find  analysis  of  Missouri  River  sedi- 


74 


PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


ment.  Only  a  qualitative  analysis  was  made  of  the  water  with  the 
following  result: 

Carbonate  of  lime  was  present  in  the  largest  quantity.  Next 
came  carbonate  of  soda,  iron  in  various  forms  and  carbonic  hydro- 
chloric acid.  In  smaller  proportions  there  was  present  sulphuric 
acid,  magnesia,  and  organic  matter.  Only  a  trace  of  potash 
appeared.  Iron  was  clearly  most  abundant  at  high  water. 

The  temperature  of  the  Missouri  River  at  Dakota  City  during 

May,  1869,  was 60° 

June,  1869,  was 62° 

July,  1869,  was 70° 

August,  1869,  was 73° 

September,  1869,  was 66° 

October,    1869,  was 54° 

November,  1869,  was 36^° 

December,  1869,  was 35° 

The  above  were  my  own  observations.  The  following  are 
taken  from  the  report  of  the  United  States  Signal  office  at  Omaha 
during  1877  and  1878. 


Temperature     at 
bottom  . 

Average 
depth  of 
water. 

JUly                                                       

Max. 
77 

Min. 

70 

64 
4fi 
32 
32 

87 

Feet. 
26 

io 

10 
10 
14 

10 

72 
6« 
45 
38 

October                    ..... 

March  

52 

Mav  

June  

During  several  years  between  1873  and  1879  I  attempted  to 
ascertain  the  temperature  of  the  Missouri  at  Plattsmouth,  but  the 
result  did  not  differ  materially  from  the  above. 

Though  the  water  of  the  Missouri  is  muddy,  yet  when  it  is 
allowed  to  settle  and  become  clear,  it  is  singularly  sweet,  and  in 
summer,  when  cooled  with  ice,  it  is  even  delicious.  I  have  seen 
barrels  filled  with  Missouri  water,  in  July  and  August,  and 
whether  standing  in  the  sun  or  shade,  no  infusoria  or  other  minute 
animal  forms  could  be  detected  with  the  microscope,  even  after 
a  week's  exposure.  I  have  had  no  such  experience  with  any  other 
river  water  anywhere.  Probably,  one  reason  of  this  is,  that  the 
sediment  held  in  suspension,  by  the  water,  carries  to  the  bottom,  as 
it  settles,  all  organic  matter.  Eventually  infusoria  appear  in  it — in 


DRAINAGE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   WATER.  75 

from  ten  to  twelve  days,  while  with  ordinary  water,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  they  can  be  found  within  a  week. 

The  waters  of  the  Platte  do  not  differ  materially  from  those  of  the 
Missouri.  It  holds  almost  as  much  sediment  in  suspension  during 
flood  time,  but  materially  less  during  low  water.  In  1874,  I 
took  a  sample  from  the  Platte,  near  Omaha  Junction,  in  flood 
time  in  June,  and  one  from  the  same  place,  at  low  water  in  Octo- 
ber. The  following  result  was  obtained  by  filtering.  At  high 
water,  397  grains  from  one  gallon;  at  low  water,  39  grains  from 
one  gallon.  It  is  seen  from  this  result  that  the  amount  of  sedi- 
ment held  in  suspension  by  the  Platte^  during  high  water,  is  over 
ten  times  as  great,  as  during  low  water.  The  difference  is  much 
greater  than  between  high  and  low  water,  in  the  Missouri.  In 
other  words,  the  Platte  much  more  nearly  becomes  clear  than  the 
Missouri.  The  qualitative  analysis  also  showed  the  presence 
of  lime,  soda,  iron,  carbonic  and  hydrochloric  acid.  Then  in  less 
quantities  followed  sulphuric  acid,  magnesia,  potash,  and  organic 
matter.  There  was  less  lime  and  iron,  and  more  potash  than  in 
the  water  of  the  Missouri.  Analyses  varied  considerably  between 
high  and  low  water,  and  between  samples  taken  at  different 
places.  The  above  is,  therefore,  only  an  approximation  to  the 
correct  composition  of  the  water. 

The  temperature  of  the  Platte  waters  is  comparatively  high. 
At  or  near  its  mouth,  its  average  for  June,  1879,  was  69°;  for  July, 
76°,  and  for  August,  78°.  When,  however,  the  water  of  the  Platte 
is  left  to  settle,  and  become  clear,  it  can  safely  be  used  for  domestic 
purposes.  It  is  purer  than  that  which  is  used  by  the  majority 
of  mankind. 

On  analysis,  it  is  found,  that  the  water  of  the  Republican  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  Platte.  As  it  receives  by  drainage  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  the  water  of  the  Platte,  and  flows  over  similar 
deposits,  this  similarity  in  chemical  character  would  be  expected. 

The  Niobrara  River  varies  in  different  parts  of  its  course  in  the 
quality  and  temperature  of  its  waters,  more  than  any  other  river  in 
Nebraska.  Where  it  enters  the  State,  it  is  a  clear,  sparkling 
stream,  and  before  it  reaches  the  canyon  region,  it  approximates  in 
character  to  that  of  the  upper  Platte.  Here,  however,  it  flows 
between  lofty  walls  and  receives  such  a  vast  number  of  cold 
springs  of  water,  that  the  whole  river  partakes  of  their  character. 
After  it  emerges  from  this  canyon  region,  it  again  gradually  approxi- 
mates in  the  character  of  its  water  to  that  of  the  Platte. 


76  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  Bow  Rivers,  as  we  have  already  seen,  are  peculiar  in  the 
great  number  of  pure  springs  of  water,  that  are  found  along  their 
whole  length.  Their  mean  temperature  is,  therefore,  somewhat 
lower  than  that  of  other  rivers  of  the  State.  And  yet  because 
of  the  springs  with  which  they  are  directly  fed,  large  sections 
of  them  never  freeze,  even  in  the  coldest  winters.  For  reasons 
previously  stated  the  water  of  these  rivers  is  less  hard  than  that 
of  other  rivers  of  the  State.  The  only  other  river  with  which  I 
can  compare  it,  in  these  respects,  is  the  Bazile,  and  in  a  still  less 
'degree,  the  Verdigris.  The  Bazile,  like  the  Bows,  is  largely  fed 
by  springs  flowing  directly  .into  it. 

The  waters  of  the  remaining  rivers  that  rise  within  the  State 
have  many  points  in  common.  One  of  them  is  the  blackish  hue 
that  is  given  to  them  after  rains  and  during  flood  time.  This 
is  caused  by  the  organic  matter  which  is  brought  down  by  every 
rivulet  from  the  black  surface  soil  of  the  State.  This  black  soil 
being  from  one  to  twenty  feet  in  thickness,  all  the  water  pouring 
into  the  rivers,  after  rains,  is  more  or  less,  loaded  with  it.  This, 
then,  gives  to  the  waters  those  ingredients  which  constitute  its  dis- 
solved substance.  Among  these  in  addition  to  the  organic  matter, 
is  lime,  salts  of  soda,  potash  and  magnesia,  and  iron.  In  minute 
quality,  also,  sulphuric  and  hydrochloric  acid.  When  flood  time  is 
over,  the  streams  that  rise  within  the  State,  are  proximately  clear. 
The  Blues  have  in  places,  a  blue  tinge,  and  yet  objects  can  be  seen 
at  the  bottom,  where  the  water  is  from  two  to  four  feet  deep. 


GENERAL    FLORA    OF    NEBRASKA.  77 


CHAPTER  VII, 

GENERAL  FLORA  OF  NEBRASKA. 

AN  OBSERVER  casually  passing  over  the  State  little  suspects 
the  wealth  of  vegetable  forms  that  clothe  the  land.  To  under- 
stand, however,  its  botany,  this  one  fact  needs  to  be  borne  in  mind, 
namely  that  Nebraska  is  the  meeting  place  of  two  somewhat 
diverse  floras.  Here  the  plants  indigenous  to  dry  regions  and  those 
common  to  humid  sections  come  together.  The  slope  of  the  land 
eastward  is  so  gentle  that  Rocky  Mountain  forms  come  more  than 
half  way  to  meet  their  distant  relatives  from  the  moister  regions  of 
the  Missouri  and  Mississippi.  In  fact  here  Rocky  Mountain  plants 
by  slight  and  gradual  change  in  environment,  have  adapted  them- 
selves to  a  climate  very  different  from  their  native  habitat.  The 
same  can  be  said  of  forms  whose  centre  of  dispersion  was  the  Mis- 
sissippi basin.  Hence  it  is  that  the  best  botanical  floras  of  the 
schools — such  as  Gray's  Manual  and  Wood's  Class  Book — do  not 
describe  many  of  our  floral  forms.  Singularly  enough  what  they 
leave  off  can  mostly  be  found  in  Porter's  and  Coulter's  Colorado 
Flora.  The  former  were  only  intended  for  the  region  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  but  this  section,  in  addition  to  that,  grows  many  of  the 
plants  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  is  one  reason  why  there  is 
such  a  wealth  of  vegetable  forms  in  the  State.  It  has  drawn  for 
its  supplies  from  two  diverse  regions,  and  owing  to  the  magnifi- 
cence of  its  climate,  and  the  richness  and  variety  of  its  soils,  it  has 
successfully  acclimated  plants  from  high,  dry  and  cold  regions,  and 
those  from  low,  humid  and  hot  sections.  I  have  thus  far  collected 
over  2,100  species  and  varieties  of  plants  from  this  State.*  Com- 
paring this  number  with  the  lists  from  other  States,  it  will  be  seen 
that  our  wealth  of  native  varieties  and  species  is  exceptionally 
great.  And  yet  the  harvest  to  be  gathered,  especially  among  the 
lowly  cryptogamic  forms,  is  hardly  touched. 


*  See  my  Catalogue  of  the  Flora  of  N«brafka,  published  by  the  University  of  Nebraska, 
1875.    The  next  edition  will  hare  at  least  100  additional  species. 


78  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  highest  of  all  the  orders,  the  Crowfoot  Family  (Ranuncu- 
lacece)  is  represented  by  forty-two.  Characteristic  among  these 
for  their  humble  beauty  are  six  species  and  one  variety  of  Anemone. 
Five  species  and  one  variety  of  Crowfoot  (Ranunculus)  are  abun- 
dant in  their  season.  The  Larkspurs  (Delphinium)  are  still  more 
abundant.  No  species,  however,  of  this  family  is  so  remarkable 
for  its  beauty  and  abundance  as  the  Columbine  (Aquilegia.)  They 
are  a  conspicuous  form  along  the  line  of  the  Burlington  &  Missouri 
Railroad  in  Nebraska,  between  Ashland  and  Plattsmouth.  Here  they 
grow  to  a  size,  and  attain  to  a  beauty  rarely  witnessed  elsewhere. 

Among  the  early  flowering  plants  the  violets  here,  as  elsewhere, 
hold  a  conspicuous  place.  No  temperate  region  is  complete  without 
them.  Eleven  species  adorn  our  prairies  and  woodlands.  One  of 
them,  the  Downy  Yellow  Violet  (  Viola  pubescens)  is  found  only 
in  the  belts  of  timber.  The  Larkspur  Violet  ( V.  delphinefolia) 
and  the  Arrow-leaved  Violet  ( V.  sagittatd)  are  the  most  abun- 
dant. Their  abundance  sometimes  is  so  great  in  woodlands  that 
they  give  a  violet  hue  to  the  ground  and  exclude  all  other  forms. 

In  the  Pink  family  no  flower  is  so  abundant  as  the  Starry  Cam- 
pion (Silene  stellatd).  Its  favorite  locality  is  the  thick  underbrush 
of  woodlands. 

The  Mallows  are  represented  by  some  delicately  beautiful  forms. 
Chief  among  these  is  one  with  scarlet  flowers  and  branching  stems 
(Callirrhoe  involucrata).  Another  (C.  triangulate?},  is  more  abun- 
dant, and  only  less  beautiful  than  the  last.  Another,  with  a  scarlet 
salmon  color,  shading  into  yellow  purple,  grows  in  patches  cover- 
ing the  ground.  This  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  for  cultivation. 
Two  species  of  Hebiscus  are  abundant,  but  one  of  them  (If.  trior- 
num)  which  has  become  abundant  in  many  parts  of  the  State,  is  a 
foreigner,  having  escaped  from  cultivated  grounds. 

The  Pulse  Family  (Leguminosce)  are  exceedingly  abundant  in 
species  and  individuals.  One  of  the  earliest  of  the  species  of  this 
order  to  bloom  is  the  Ground  Plum  (Astragalus  caryocarpus), 
so  called  by  the  early  "  voyageurs"  over  the  plains.  Its  young 
tender  pods  are  no  mean  substitute  for  peas,  as  I  many  times  ascer- 
tained by  experience  when  camped  on  the  unsettled  prairies.  Its 
purplish  violet  racemes  of  flowers  which  often  shade  into  white, 
are  the  most  conspicuous  forms  on  the  plains  in  their  season. 
There  are  nineteen  other  species  of  Astragalus  in  the  State,  many 
of  which  with  intense  scarlet  flowers  are  marvelously  beautiful. 


GENERAL    FLORA   OF   NEBRAtitfS  79 


They  increase  in  the  number  of  species  towards  the  western  part 
of  the  State,  their  centre  of  distribution  being  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. Other  characteristic  forms  of  this  order  are  the  Psoraleas, 
Prairie  Clovers  (Petalastemon  violaceus  and  P.  candidus],  Tick- 
Trefoils  (Desmodiums),  and  Indigo  Plants  (Baptista).  Baptisia 
leucophaea,  with  its  large  racemes  of  cream-colored  flowers,  is 
abundant,  and  arrests  the  attention  of  every  one  traveling  over  the 
prairies  when  it  is  in  bloom.  The  Wild  Senna  (Cassia  Mart 
landicd)  is  exceedingly  abundant  and  largely  sensitive,  and  full  of 
beautiful  yellow  flowers  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  plants  in  the 
State.  Still  more  highly  sensitive  is  the  Sensitive  Brier  (Shrankia 
uncinatd).  Its  rose-purple  flowers  are  in  small  heads,  and  is  most 
abundant  in  Southwestern  Nebraska. 

Of  the  Rose  Family  there  are  fifty-nine  species  in  the  State.  Of 
these  the  wild  plums  are  the  most  conspicuous.  These  are  found 
in  almost  every  county,  and  grow  to  a  size  and  spread  into  varie- 
ties, and  attain  a  richness  of  flavor  rarely  equaled  elsewhere.  The 
Cinquefoils  (Potentilld)  are  represented  by  fourteen  species.  The 
wild  strawberries,  raspberries  and  June  berries  are  all  well  repre- 
sented. Of  wild  roses  there  are  at  least  four  species.  Occasion- 
ally one  of  these  (Rosa  blanda)  becomes  a  nuisance,  its  eradication 
being  difficult  from  old  formerly  abandoned  fields. 

The  Evening  Primrose  Family  (Onagraccd)  gives  many  beautiful 
forms  to  the  State.  One  of  these  ((Enothera  biennis]  which  has 
been  successfully  reduced  to  cultivation,  is  found  growing  in  West- 
ern Nebraska  with  flowers  three  and  four  inches  in  diameter. 
Another  one,  growing  in  Central  and  Western  Nebraska,  is  still 
larger,  but  with  a  low  stem,  and  the  flowers  light  yellow,  with 
orange  veins.  One  of  the  commonest  forms  of  this  order  in 
Eastern  Nebraska  is  (Enothera  serrulata.  Its  flowers  are  yellow 
and  its  leaves  narrow  and  serrulate.  All  the  species  of  this  order 
increase  towards  the  western  limits  of  the  State. 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  all  orders  is  the  Cactus  Family.  Of 
this  order  there  are  in  this  State  twenty  species  and  varieties. 
Along  the  eastern  counties  the  commonest  forms  are  Opuntea 
vulgaris  and  O.  Rafinesquii.  They  increase  greatly  in  numbers  of 
species  and  individuals  towards  the  central  and  western  portions  of 
the  State.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  is  the  Cereus  caespitosus.  It 
is  of  a  short  cylindrical  form,  writh  rose  purple  flowers  two  and 
three  inches  in  diameter.  The  yellow  flower  becoming  green  of 


80  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

C.  viridiflorus  is  scarcely  less  beautiful.  Many  admire  most  the 
large,  deep  purple  flower  of  C.  fendleri,  and  the  scarlet  one,  open 
day  and  night,  of  C.  gonacanthus.  The  varieties  of  colors  among 
these  flowers  is  exceptionally  great,  shading  from  pink  purple  to 
yellowish  green,  and  from  deep  scarlet  to  rose  purple  and  yellow. 

The  Honeysuckle  Family  is  represented  by  fourteen  species,  the 
most  common  being  the  Yellow  Honeysuckle  (Lonicera  flavd}. 
The  Sweet  Wild  Honeysuckle  (L.  grata]  is  abundant  in  the  State. 
The  Hairy  Honeysuckle  is  rarely  met  with.  The  Bush  Honey- 
suckle (Diervilla  trifida),  so  common  in  the  East,  is  also  abundant 
here  on  the  borders  of  woodlands. 

The  Composite  Family  is  the  most  abundant  in  the  number  of 
species  of  any  in  the  State,  there  being  at  least  244  different  forms. 
Some  of  the  earliest  and  some  of  the  latest  flowering  plants  belong 
to  this  order.  One  of  the  former  is  Townsendia  grandiflora. 
Almost  stemless,  crouched  among  the  dead  grass,  it  is  a  most 
beautiful  object  amid  the  bleakness  of  early  spring.  There  are 
nineteen  species  of  sunflowers.  These  in  the  latter  part  of  sum- 
mer and  autumn  everywhere  attract  attention,  and  still  later  by 
their  seeds  furnish  food  to  great  nnmbers  of  grouse,  quail  and 
other  birds.  The  beautiful  blazing  stars  (Liatris)  are  represented 
by  six  species.  The  asters  here  find  a  most  congenial  home, 
as  twenty- eight  species  adorn  our  prairies.  The  Golden  Rods 
(SaKdago),  so  well  loved  by  the  bees,  are  represented  by  twenty 
species.  The  Coreopsis,  so  much  sought  after  and  cultivated 
in  the  east  is  represented  by  eight  species.  A  short  distance 
northeast  of  Fairmount,  acres  are  covered  with  these  golden-hued 
flowers,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  forms.  One  of  the  most  uni- 
versally spread  of  this  order  is  Aplopoppus  rubignosus,  and  A. 
spinulosus.  The  former  is  peculiar  in  being  "viscidly  pubescent," 
the  flowers  in  subglobose  heads,  and  generally  have  many,  on  erect 
stems  from  ten  to  eighteen  inches  high.  It  is  one  of  those  curious 
forms  that  has  spread  over  the  State  from  the  lofty  regions  on  the 
west. 

The  finest  representative  of  the  Lobelia  Family  is  becoming  ex- 
ceedingly rare.  I  refer  to  the  cardinal  flower  (L.  cardinal  is], 
which  was  abundant  along  the  Missouri  wooded  bluffs,  but  is  now 
rarely  met  with. 

The  Figwort  Family  finds  here  a  most  congenial  home.  Twenty 
species  of  Pentstemon  grace  the  State;  only  six,  however, are  found 


GENERAL  FLORA  OF  NEBRASKA.  81 

in  the  eastern  counties.  They  increase  rapidly  westward,  until  the 
mountains  are  reached,  where  they  have  their  greatest  develop- 
ment. Among  the  most  beautiful  are  P.  grandiflora  and  P.  ceru- 
leus.  P.  albidus  is  only  found  along  our  western  border.  More 
of  these  beautiful  species  deserve  a  place  in  the  garden  than  have 
yet  been  admitted  there.  The  scarlet  Castilleias,  in  western  Ne- 
braska, are  not  less  beautiful  than  the  last.  The  rose-purple 
Gerardia  also  abounds  in  places.  It  is  curious  that  a  homely  mem- 
ber of  this  tribe,  the  common  mullein  of  the  East,  though  not 
native,  has,  since  its  accidental  introduction,  spread  rapidly  over 
eastern  Nebraska. 

The  Verbenas  are  among  the  most  generally  spread  species  of 
the  State.  Some  of  the  native  nine  species  of  the  State  are  found 
in  every  county.  Verbena  hastata  is  most  abundant.  V.  bracle- 
asa  is  at  home  in  every  county.  I  have  seen  it  grow  at  the  very 
edge  of  the  Bad  Lands,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  Sand  Hills. 

Of  the  forty-eight  species  of  the  Mint  Family,  perhaps  the  most 
attractive  is  Salvia  azurea,  which  grows  here  from  four  to  five 
feet  high,  with  showy,  azure  blue  flowers,  in  a  spike-like  raceme. 

The  Polemonium  Family  receives  here  a  wonderful  develop- 
ment in  the  number  of  individuals.  Phlox  is  the  most  abundant. 
In  June,  in  many  places,  the  prairies  are  made  scarlet  by  their 
numbers.  Some  of  the  counties  along  the  Elkhorn  and  its  tribu- 
taries are  particularly  remarkable  for  their  numbers.  The  Logan 
bottoms,  in  Wayne  County,  in  former  years,  had  a  most  extra- 
ordinary profusion  of  these  flowers.  The  Gilias  are  most  abundant 
towards  our  western  limits.  One  form,  however,  {G.  tricolor^ 
first  described  from  California,  is  frequently  seen  in  eastern  Ne- 
braska. 

Of  the  Convolvulus  Family,  the  most  interesting  form  is  the 
Bush  Morning  Glory  (Ipomcea  leptopkylla).  Its  purple,  funnel-form 
flower,  three  inches  long,  is  a  most  attractive  object  in  southwestern 
Nebraska.  The  dodder,  also,  unfortunately,  abounds  in  our  woods. 

The  Night- Shade  Family  is  represented,  among  many  others,, 
by  the  Potato-Beetle  weed  (Solanum  rostratum).  It  was  intro- 
duced from  the  mountains  by  freighters  across  the  plains.  It  is  the 
original  plant  on  which  the  potato  beetle  fed,  before  the  more 
luscious  potato  came  in  its  way. 

The  Gentian  Family  is  most  fully  represented  by  the  type  genus 
Gentiana.  Of  the  fourteen  species  that  here  belong  to  this  order, 
6 


82  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

nine  belong  to  this  genus.  They  are  rarer  than  in  former  years, 
G.  crinita,  or  fringed  gentian,  being  now  rarely  found.  One 
species,  with  a  short  stem,  is  a  very  late  bloomer  in  autumn.  It  is 
of  a  very  deep  blue  color,  and  appears  after  the  first  frosts. 

The  Milkweed  Family  is  particularly  rich  in  species  of  the 
genus  Asclepias,  of  which  there  are  fourteen  different  forms. 
Asclepia  verticillata,  with  its  greenish-white  flowers,  is  rapidly, 
for  some  reason,  increasing  in  southern  Nebraska.  - 

The  Buckwheat  Family  is  represented  by  forty-two  species. 
The  ioint-weeds  (Polygonuni)  are  the  most  abundant.  Of  these 
there  are  nineteen  species  and  varieties.  Polygonum  amphibium 
and  its  two  varieties,  are  the  most  abundant,  it  being  found  abund- 
antly in  low,  swampy  ground.  The  Missouri  bottoms  seem  to  be 
its  centre  of  distribution.  The  plant  is  remarkable  for  the  large 
amount  of  tannic  acid  which  it  contains. 

The  Spurge  Family  is  conspicuous  in  the  State,  not  for  the 
number  of  species,  as  there  are  only  twenty-two,  but  because  of 
the  singular  appearance  of  a  few  forms.  Euphorbia  marginata, 
so  abundant  in  every  county,  is  conspicuous  for  its  beautiful  silver- 
white  margined  leaves.  These  are  recognized  a  great  way  off. 
This  plant  is  cultivated  in  the  east  for  its  beauty  of  form.  Here, 
in  places,  its  very  abundance  makes  it  a  nuisance.  E.  hetero- 
phylla,  on  the  other  hand,  has  a  beautiful  scarlet-red  base  to  its 
upper  leaves.  This  species  does  not  make  itself  so  conspicuous  as 
the  last,  as  it  needs  to  be  sought  after  to  be  found. 

The  Orchis  Family  is  well  represented  by  twenty-nine  species. 
Only  a  few  are  abundant.  The  Great  Western  White  Orchis 
(Habernaria  leucophced)  is  found  sparingly  in  all  low  lands.  Its 
cream-white  raceme  of  flowers  are  remarkable  alike  for  their 
beauty  and  their  delicious  odor.  The  common  Lady  Slippers 
(Cypripediuiri)  are  abundant  in  some  woodlands.  C.  pubescens  is 
most  frequently  met  with,  and  grows  to  a  size  rarely  observed  in 
the  east. 

The  Iris  Family  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  great  number  of 
individuals  of  one  species,  namely,  the  Blue-Eyed  Grass  (Sisyrin- 
chium  Bermudiand}.  When  in  bloom,  it  is  observed  everywhere 
on  the  prairies,  because  of  the  attractiveness  of  its  numerous,  tiny, 
star-like,  blue  and  white  flowers. 

The  Lily  Family  furnishes  one  of  the  earlie&t  of  our  flowering 
plants,  namely,  the  Dog's-Tooth  Violets  (Erythronium).  E. 


GENERAL   FLORA   OF   NEBRASKA.  83 

Americanum  and  E.  albidum  often  make  their  appearance  when 
snow  still  covers  some  of  the  hillsides.  Three  species  of  Lily 
grow  wild,  and  the  almost  universal  Solomon's  seal.  One  of  the 
most  peculiar  of  all  species  is  the  so-called  Soap  Plant  (Tucca  an- 
gustifolia).  It  is  exceedingly  abundant  in  western  Nebraska,  and 
very  rarely  met  with  in  the  eastern  counties.  It  contains  a  large 
amount  of  alkaline  matter  in  its  tissues,  and  hence  its  popular 
name,  it  frequently  being  used  by  "  voyageurs ,"  in  the  absence  of 
soap,  for  washing.  The  plants  do  not  bloom  every  year,  but  when 
a  flower-stalk  is  produced  it  bears  from  a  dozen  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  large,  greenish,  cream-colored,  lily-like  flowers.  Its 
leaves  are  long,  narrow,  numerous  and  pointed. 

Abundant  among  the  plants  of  the  State  are  the  sedges.  They  bear 
such  an  external  resemblance  to  the  grasses  that  they  are  commonly 
confounded  with  them.  There  are  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  species  in  the  State,  varying  in  size  from  forms  only  a  few 
inches  high,  to  flags,  in  ponds  and  sloughs,  six  feet  high.  They 
can  generally  be  recognized  by  their  three-cornered  stems  and 
solid  culms,  differing  in  this  respect  from  the  grasses,  whose  culms 
are  round  and  hollow,  or,  at  least,  are  not  angled.  As  everywhere 
else,  the  genus  Carex  is  represented  by  the  most  species,  more  than 
two-thirds  of  all  in  the  State  belonging  to  it. 

The  higher  Cryptogamia  (Flowerless  Plants)  are  well  repre- 
sented in  the  State.  Thirty -six  species  and  varieties  of  ferns 
flourish  in  our  woodlands.  Four  species  of  Lycopods  are  also  met 
with.  Over  one  hundred  species  of  mosses  have  been  identified. 
At  least  sixty-two  species  of  lichens  are  scattered  over  the  State. 
The  Fresh  Water  Algae  are  exceeding  abundant,  and  of  these 
ninety-two  species  have  been  detected.  In  this  department  I  have 
only  skimmed  the  surface,  but  hope  to  renew  my  labors  in  this 
field,  when  many  more  will  be  added  to  the  number  of  our  species. 

As  some  features  of  our  flora  have  a  special  interest,  I  will  dis- 
cuss them  more  in  detail  in  the  following  chapters. 


84  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FOREST     TREES     AND     SHRUBS    OF     NEBRASKA, 
WITH    NOTES   ON   THEIR   DISTRIBUTION. 

IN  the  early  reports  on  Nebraska  it  was  represented  that  some 
half  dozen  species  of  forest  trees  were  native  here.  Such  reports 
•were  evidently  made  at  random.  It  has  too  often  happened  that 
men  with  a  respectable  acquaintance  with  natural  history  felt  com- 
petent to  to  describe  the  physical  aspects  and  flora  of  a  region  after 
going  through  it  on  horse  back  at  a  gallop.  Only  after  the  most 
painstaking  labor  of  fourteen  years  have  I  found  many  of  the  species 
contained  in  this  list.  Since  my  own  catalogue  of  our  Flora  was 
published,  and  after  I  had  given  a  list  of  our  trees  and  shrubs  to 
different  parties  for  publication  I  discovered  some  additional  species 
within  our  borders.  One  of  these  is  the  common  white  walnut  or 
butternut  (  Juglans  cinerea ),  that  turned  up  in  Dixon  County,  a 
few  miles  from  lona,  in  a  woodland  that  I  had  frequently  ex- 
amined before.  Simon  Baltzley  first  informed  me  of  its  existence. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  still  more  trees  remain  to  be  added  to  our 
Flora.  There  are  so  many  sequestered  canyons  clothed  with  timber, 
which  no  botanist  has  yet  visited,  that  it  would  be  extraordinary 
indeed  if  some  of  them  did  not  contain  species  as  yet  unknown  in 
the  State.  I  have  shown  elsewhere  that  in  times  quite  recent,  geo- 
logically, Nebraska  was  heavily  timbered  with  a  varied  forest  veg- 
etation.* When  the  causes  commenced  to  operate  that  finally  re- 
duced its  area  to  present  limits,  some  of  the  species  retired  gradu- 
ally to  such  protected  localities  as  favored  their  perpetuation.  One 
of  these  causes  probably  was  forest  and  prairie  fires,  inaugurated 
by  primitive  races,  for  the  chase  and  for  war.  Some  species  are 
now  confined  to  spots  where  fires  cannot  reach  them.  Another 
cause  was  probably  the  encroachment  of  the  prairie  on  the  timber 
area,  caused  by  the  ground  being  so  compacted  by  the  tread  of 
countless  numbers  of  buffaloes,  that  tramped  out  growing  shoots^ 


*Chapter  on  Superficial  Deposits  ef  Nebraska. 


FOREST  TREES  AND  SHRUBS.  85 

and  unfitting  the  soil  for  the  burial,  germination  and  growth  of 
seeds.  Since  the  buffalo  has  retired,  and  prairie  fires  are  repressed, 
and  rainfall  is  increasing,  the  area  of  timber  lands  is  spontaneously 
-extending  again  in  many  directions. 

The  following  is  my  corrected  list  of  our  trees  and  shrubs.  For 
the  sake  of  convenience,  the  trees  and  shrubs  are  placed  in  separate 
lists,  but  the  botanical  order  is  preserved  in  both : 

FOREST   TREES. 

1.  Papaw  (Asimina  triloba.)     This  species  is  generally  a  shrub 
in  Nebraska,  but  I  found  a  few  in  Richardson  county  that  reached 
the  dignity  of  small  trees.     Found  only  in  southeastern  Nebraska, 
and  most  abundant  in  Richardson  County. 

2.  Linwood.     Basswood.    (Tilia  Americana^    Most  abundant 
along  the  bluffs  of  the  Missouri.   On  the  Elkhorn,  Upper  Loup,  Ne- 
maha,  etc.     Have  seen  it  as  far  as  the  102°  meridian   on  the  Nio- 
brara,  and  on   the    Upper   Republican.     One  of  our  native  trees, 
most  deserving  of  cultivation. 

3.  Var.  Pubesceus  of  this  species  is  found  along  the   Missouri 
bluffs,  south  of  the  Platte,  and  on  the  lower  Republican. 

4.  Hop  Tree  (Ptelea  trifoliata.)    Tree  and  shrub.    Grows  to  the 
size  of  a  small  tree  in  St.  John's  timber  in  Dakota  County.     Found 
also  on  the  Niobrara.     Have  not  met  with  it  south  of  the  Platte. 

5.  Staghorn  Sumach.    (Rhus  typhina.}    Rare.    Have  seen  only 
a  few  specimens  in  Dakota  and  Dixon  Counties. 

6.  Ohio  Buckeye  (.sEsculus  glabra.)     Occasional  in  southeast 
Nebraska.     Most  abundant  on  the  Nemaha,  and  in  Nemaha  and 
Otoe  Counties. 

7.  Sweet  Buckeye  (A.  Jlava.)     Rarer  than  the  preceding,  but 
lias  about  the  same  range. 

8.  Sugar  Maple  (Acer  sacckarinum.)     Rarely  found  native  in 
Nebraska.     I  have  only  observed  it  in  the  Plyburg  timber  in  Da- 
kota County. 

9.  Silver  Maple  (Acer  dasy  carp  um.)    Rare  in  Nebraska.  Found 
one   growing  during  the  last  year,  for  the  first  time,  on  bottom 
near  the  borders  of  Cass  and  Otoe  Counties. 

10.  Red  Maple  (Acer  rubrum.)    Abundant  among  other  timber 
along  most  of  our  water  courses. 

11.  Box  Elder  (N eg  undo   ace  ro  ides  ^     One  of  the  most  abun- 
dant trees  in  the  State.     It  ^rows  largest  and  finest  in   northeast 


86  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Nebraska.  Many  trees  of  this  species,  near  Ponca,  are  two  feet  in 
diameter,  and  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  high.  On  the  Missouri  bot- 
tom, in  the  same  section,  they  often  grow  in  dense  thickets.  Is 
found  to  the  west  line  of  the  State  in  south  Nebraska,  and  to  the 
102°  meridian  along  the  Niobrara  and  its  tributaries.  Also  on  the 
Platte,  in  places,  on  the  Elkhorn  and  the  Loups.  One  of  the 
easiest  of  our  trees  to  propagate. 

12.  Red   Bud.     Judas   Tree    (Cercis    Canadensis^      Common 
along  the  Missouri  bluffs.     Occasionally  on  the  Platte,  Republican, 
Elkhorn  and  Loup.     Sometimes  a  shrub. 

13.  Coffee- Tree  (Gymnocladus  Canadensls^]     Nowhere  abun- 
dant.    It  is  often   met  with  in   most  of  the  larger  timber  belts  of 
the  State.      I   have  found  it  of  larger  size  and  more  frequently  in 
Dixon  and  Dakota  Counties  than  elsewhere  in  the  State.-     I  no- 
ticed a  few  near  the  mouth  of  F airfield  Creek  on  the  Niobrara. 

14.  Honey  Locust  (^Gleditschia  triacantkos.)     Common  south 
of  the  Platte,  but  rare  north.     A  few  on  the  Loup  and  on  the  Re- 
publican. 

15.  Water    Locust    (G.    monosperma.)      Rare    in    Nebraska* 
Found  only  a  few  growing   south  of  the  Nemaha  in  Richardson 
County. 

1 6.  Wild  Red  Cherry  (Prunus  Pennsylvanica^)    Southeastern 
Nebraska.     Saw  the  finest  in  Richardson  County.     Grows  there 
thirty  feet  high. 

17.  Wild  Black  Cherry  (P.serotina?)     Southeastern  Nebraska, 
along  the  Missouri  bluffs  and  on  the  Nemaha. 

1 8.  Choke  Cherry  (P.  Virginiana^     Common  along  the  Mis- 
souri bluffs,  on    the   Republican,  Nemaha,  Niobrara   and    Loup* 
Only  occasionally  reaches  the  dimensions  of  a  tree;    generally  a 
shrub. 

19.  Scarlet  Fruited  Thorn  {Cratcegus  coccinea.)     Tree  small. 
As  frequently  a   shrub   as   tree.      Widely   spread    over  Nebraska 
wherever  there  is  timber,  but  nowhere  abundant.     In  the  form  of 
a  tree  it  formerly  could  be  frequently   found    along   the  Missouri 
timbered  bluffs,  from  the  Omaha  Agency  to  the  north  line  of  the 
State. 

20.  Black  Thorn  (C.  tomentosal)     A  low  tree,  but  often  a  mere 
shrub.     It  exists  of  tree  size  on  the  middle  Niobrara. 

21.  White  Ash     (Fraxinus   Americana.)     Grows    in    northeast 
Nebraska  to  a  magnificent  size,  and  is  comparatively  abundant. 


FOREST   TREES   AND   SHRUBS.  87 

Found  in  less  numbers  south  of  the  Platte.  Have  seen  it  near  the 
west  line  of  the  State,  on  the  Arickaree,  and  on  the  Niobrara  as 
far  as  the  101°  meridian.  Also  found  on  the  Elkhorn  and  the  Loup 
and  Blue  Rivers. 

22.  Red  Ash  (F.  pub  esc  ens?)     Very   rare  in  eastern   Nebraska. 
Have  met  with  it  sparingly  on  the  Republican,  Arickaree,  and  on 
the  Niobrara.     Occasionally  found  on  the  Elkhorn  and  Loup. 

23.  Green  Ash  (F.  viridis.)     Medium  sized.     Common  in  east- 
ern Nebraska.     Found  a  few  in   southwestern  Nebraska,   on   the 
Arickaree,  on  the  Niobrara,  Loup,  Elkhorn  ank  Bazile. 

24.  Black  Ash  (F.  sambuctfolia.)     Rare.     Found  it  for  the  first 
time  during  the  last  few  years  near  the  Nemaha,   in   Richardson 
County. 

25.  Blue  Ash  (F.  quadrangulata?)     Tree  here  of   medium  size. 
Next  to  White  Ash  in  abundance.     Most  frequently  found  in  south- 
eastern Nebraska.     I  have  seen  a  few  of  them  on  the  Republican, 
Elkhorn,  Loup  and  Niobrara. 

26.  Slippery  or  Red  Elm  (Ulmus  fulva.)     Found' widely  spread, 
but  nowhere  very  abundant  over  eastern  Nebraska.     It  is   apt  to 
be  met  with  in  timber   belts  along  water  courses.     It   is   met  with 
at  intervals  along  the  Republican,  Nemaha,  Elkhorn,  and  on  the 
Niobrara. 

27.  White  Elm  (U.  Americana^     Same  localities  in  the  main 
as  the  last,  but  more  abundant. 

28.  Cork  White  Elm  (U.  racemosa.}      A  few  in  Dakota  and 
Dixon  Counties.     Still   more  rarely  met  with  in  Cass,   Otoe   and 
Nemaha  Counties.      Found  a  few  on  the   Niobrara,  east  of  the 
mouth  of  the   Snake   river.      A   fine  specimen   on  Mr.   Master's 
grounds,  a  few  miles  east  of  Nebraska  City. 

29.  Wahoo  Elm  (U.  alata.}     Rarest  of   all   our  elms.      Have 
only  seen  three  specimens  in  Nebraska — one   in  Cass  and  two   in 
Richardson  County. 

30.  Hackberry  (Celt is  occidentalism]     Common  in  eastern  Ne- 
braska.    It   is  sparingly  represented  on  the   Republican,  is    more 
abundant  on  the  Niobrara.     A  few  are  also  found  on  the  Elkhorn 
and  the  Loups. 

31.  Red  Mulberry  (Morns  rubra.}     Found  sparingly  all  along 
eastern  Nebraska,  and  generally  on  the  timbered  bluffs  of  the  Mis- 
souri.    The   finest  trees  occur  in  Dakota  and   Dixon  counties.     It 
also  occurs  on  the  Niobrara  as  far  west  as  the  loist  meridian. 


88  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

32.  White  Mulberry  (M.  alba?)     This  species  is  supposed  to  be 
a  foreigner  introduced   into   the  State.     As   I   have  some   doubts 
about  this,  I  give  it  a  place  in  this  list.     Have  only  found  it  on  the 
Missouri  bluffs,  southwest  from  Dakota  City. 

33.  Buttonwood  (Platanus  occidentalis?)     Have  found  it  only  in 
Cass,  Otoe,  Nemaha  and  Richardson  Counties.     Most  abundant  in 
Otoe.     The  bottoms  of  the  Missouri  afford  it  a  congenial  home, 
and  here  it  flourishes.     In  some  groves  it  has  excluded   most  other 
forms. 

34.  Butternut  (Juglans  ctnerea.)     Rare  in  Nebraska      Know  of 
but  one  tree  native  to  the  State.     This  was  first  found   by  Simon 
Baltzley,  Esq.,  near  Ionia,  in  Dixon  County,  on  the  Missouri  bot- 
tom, near  the  bluffs. 

35.  Black  Walnut  (/".  nigra.)     On  the  whole  the  most  valuable 
of  our   native  trees.     It  was   formerly  quite   abundant   in   eastern 
Nebraska.     Owing  to   the  high  price  of  the   lumber,  millions   of 
feet   have  been   shipped   away,  the  bulk  of  it   going  to  St.  Louis. 
In    1865  and    1866  a  half  million  feet  of  lumber  was   taken  from 
Dakota  County  alone.     In  Dakota  and  Dixon  Counties   there  are 
yet  some  of  these  Black  Walnuts   standing,  forty  feet  without  a 
limb,  and  from  three  to  five  feet  in  diameter.     They  are  found  on 
the  Republican,  on  the  Loup,  and  on  the  Niobrara  and  Elkhorn. 
When  raised  from   the  seed,  and  not  transplanted,  they  are  com- 
paratively fast  growing.     One  of  the  most  desirable  trees  for  cul- 
tivation. 

36.  Shell   Bark  Hickory  (Carya  alba?)     Found,  at  long  inter- 
vals, in  southeastern   Nebraska,  and  still  more  rarely  north  of  the 
Platte. 

37.  White-heart  Hickory  (C.  fomentosa.)     Have  only  seen  a  few 
of  this  species,  in  Richardson  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

38.  Pignut  Hickory  (C.  porcina.)     Mostly  in  northeastern  Ne- 
braska, and  on  the  Niobrara. 

39.  Butternut  Hickory    (C   amara.~)     Our  commonest   species. 
Have  observed   it  sparingly  in  every  county  along  the   Missouri, 
and  also  at  long  intervals  on  the  Republican  and  Elkhorn.     Often 
these  hickories  only  reach  the  dimensions  of  shrubs. 

40.  Burr  Oak  ( Quercus  macrocarpa.}     Our  most  abundant  spe- 
cies of  oak.     Found  all  along  the  Missouri,  on  the  Niobrara  and 
its  tributaries,  as  far  as  to  the    iO2d  meridian,  on  the  Elkhorn,  the 
Upper  Loups,  on  the  Nemaha,  Republican,  etc. 


FOREST   TREES    AND    SHRUBS.  89 

41.  Var.  Olivce  formis,  of  the   above,   is   found    principally   in 
northeast  Nebraska 

42.  Post  Oak  (Q.  obtusiloba.}     Sparingly  on  the   Elkhorn  and 
Niobrara. 

43.  White     Oak.     Variety    of.     (Q.    alba.      Var.    Gunnisonii.) 
Rather  abundant  in  some  of  the  canyons   leading  into  the  middle 
course  of  the  Niobrara,  also  a  few  on  the   Upper  Loup.     Rare  in 
eastern  Nebraska. 

44.  Yellow  Chestnut  Oak  (Q.  primus.    Var.  acuminata.)  South- 
eastern Nebraska;  occurs  sparingly. 

45.  Swamp  White  Oak   (Q.  bicolor.)     Most  abundant  in  tim- 
bered bottoms  and  edge  of  bluffs,  in  northeast  Nebraska  and  on 
the  Niobrara.     More  sparingly  represented  south  of  the  Platte,  in 
the  counties  bordering  on  the  Missouri. 

46.  Yellow   Chestnut    Oak   (Q.   castanea.)     Southeastern    Ne- 
braska.    Sparingly  on  the  upper  Niobrara. 

47.  Dwarf  Chestnut  Oak    (Q.  prinoides.}      Though  this   is    a 
shrub,  it  in  exceptional  cases  grows  to  the  size  of  a  small  tree. 
Eastern  Nebraska,  Elkhorn,  Nemaha  and  the  Niobrara. 

48.  Black   Jack  Oak    (Q.   nigra.}     Occurs   sparingly  in   south- 
eastern Nebraska,  and  most  abundantly  in  Richardson  County.    A 
few  in  northeast  Nebraska,  on  the  Niobrara  and  Elkhorn. 

49.  Scarlet   Oak   (Q.   cocdnea.}     Occurs    sparingly    along    the 
Missouri,  on  the  Nemaha,  Elkhorn  and  Niobrara. 

50.  Var.  tinctoria  of  the  above  is  a  rarer  form.     I  have  obtained 
it  only  from  Otoe  County,  through  Mr.  Masters. 

31.     Red  Oak  (Q.  rubra.)     Found  on  the  Niobrara,  Bazile,  Mis- 
souri, Elkhorn  and  the  Nemaha,  but  nowhere  in  large  quantities. 

52.  Swamp  or  Pine  Oak  ( Q.  palustrus).    Have  only  found  it  on 
the  Missouri  bluffs  and  between  north  of  the  Platte  and  on  the 
Niobrara. 

53.  Iron  Wood  (Carpinus  Americana).     Very  sparingly  repre- 
sented  in    most    of   the    eastern    woodlands    of  the    State.     Most 
abundant  in  Northeastern  Nebraska. 

54.  Paper  Birch  (Betula  papyraced).     Only  occasionally  repre- 
sented along  the  wooded  bluffs  bordering   the  Missouri  bottoms. 
Found  it  once  on  the  Niobrara,  near  the  mouth  of  Rapid  Creek. 

55.  Red  Birch  (B.  nigrd].     Rare  in  Nebraska.     Found  my  first 
and    only    specimen    three    years  ago,  on    the   timbered    bluffs   in 
southern  part  of  Dakota  County. 


90  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

56.  Glaucous  Willow  (Salzx  discolor].     Generally  a  shrub,  but 
on  the  Missouri  bottoms  and  on  Willow  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the 
Republican,   sometimes   becomes  a  small  tree.      Is  widely   spread 
over  the  State. 

57.  Long-headed  Willow  (S.  rostratd).    This  generally  a  shrub, 
but  often  reaches  the  dimensions  of  a  tree  on  the  Missouri  bottoms, 
and  especially  in  the  St.  John's  timber  in  Dakota  County.    Found 
on  the  Niobrara,  Republican  and  Loup. 

58.  Black  Willow  (S.  nigrd].     Abundant  on  the  Missouri  bot- 
toms in  a  few  localities.     Largest  trees  occur  in  St.  John's  timber 
in  Dakota.     It  is  also  found  on  the  Republican,  on  Willow  Creek, 
Nemaha,  Elkhorn,  Loup  and  Niobrara. 

59.  Shining  Willow  (S.  lucidd].     Generally  a  shrub,  but  on  the 
islands  of  the  Platte  and  low  Missouri  bottoms  it  often  reaches  the 
size  of  a  small  tree.     Found  also    on  the  Elkhorn,   Republican, 
Loup  and  Niobrara. 

60.  Long  Silver-leaved  Willow.     (S.  longifolia  var-argophylld}. 
Also   generally  a   shrub,  but  is    found  of  tree   size  in   St.  John's 
timber,    in  Dakota  County.     It    is    also    found  on   the   Loup  and 
Southeastern  Nebraska. 

61.  American  Aspen  (Poputus  tremuloides^]     I  found  this  species 
within  our  western  border,  only  during   the   last  few   years.     Oil 
Upper  Republican,  North  Branch  of  Platte  and  Niobrara. 

62.  Cottonwood  (P.  monilifera.)    This  is  the  most  widely  spread 
and  abundant  tree  in  the  State,  being  found,  with  few   exceptions, 
on  our  western  and  northern  border,  wherever  trees  grow    at  all. 
It  apparently  does  equally  well  on  upland  or  bottom.     It  constitutes 
extensive  forests  on  some  of  the  Missouri  bottoms.     Some  trees  in 
the  St.  John's  timber,  in  Dakota  County,  five  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
butt,  were  over  three  hundred  years  old,  as  that  \vasthe  number  of 
rings  that  were  counted  on  them. 

63.  Angled  Cottonwood  (P.  angulata^]     Rare.     Found  only  in 
northeast  Nebraska. 

64.  Balsam  Poplar  (P.   balsamifera^]      Have  found   it  only    in 
Cedar  County,  and  on  the  Niobrara. 

65.  Var.  Candicans  of  the  above  have  found  only  on  the  middle 
Niobrara. 

66.  Western  Yellow  Pine  (Pinus  ponderosa^]    Canyons  and  low 
bluffs  in  western  Nebraska  and  on  the  Niobrara. 

67.  Pinus  flexilis.     Rare.     Fonnd   a    few   growing   northwest 
and  southwest  of  Sidney,  and  finer  ones  on  the  Niobrara. 


FOREST   TREES   AND    SHRUBS.  91 

68.  Engleman  Spruce  (Abies  Englemanii.)     Have  found  it  only 
on  the  Niobrara  and  tributaries. 

69.  Douglass  Spruce  (Abies  Douglassii.)     On  the  Niobrara  and 
its  tributaries. 

70.  White  Cedar   (Cupressus  thyotdes.)      Northeast    Nebraska, 
along  the  Missouri  and  on  the  Niobrara. 

71.  Red    Cedar    (Juniperus    Virginiana^]      Generally  scattered 
over  the  State  where  timber  occupies  bluff  lands   or  dry  bottoms, 
but  abundant  only  in  a  few  localities  in  northeast  Nebraska,  on  the 
Niobrara,  and  on  the  Loup.     Extensive  groves  occur  on  the  Loups 
and  their  tributaries,  and  on  the  Niobrara  and  its  tributaries.     It  is 
one  of  the  most  hardy  and  most  easy  to  cultivate  of  all  our  ever- 
greens.    A  slow  grower,  it  is  still  a  most  desirable  tree,  because 
of  its   great   hardiness,  and  when  trimmed    into  shape,  of  great 
beauty. 

After  subtracting  from  the  foregoing  list  ten  kinds  that  are  as 
frequently  shrubs  as  trees,  the  number  of  species  and  varieties 
that  are  left  is  still  sixty-one.  In  the  St.  John's  timber,  in  Dakota 
County,  and  at  the  edge  of  the  bluffs,  I  once  on  the  space  of  two 
acres  counted  eighteen  species  of  the  trees  included  in  this  list. 
Facts  like  these  demonstrate  the  great  adaptation  of  Nebraska  to 
the  growth  of  forests.  A  little  assistance  from  man,  and  nature 
will  again  gradually  clothe  a  large  part  of  the  plains  with  a  cover- 
ing of  timber. 

SHRUBS. 

1.  Papaw  (Asimina  triloba^)     Southeastern  Nebraska.     Some- 
times becomes  a  small  tree. 

2.  Creeping   Barberry  (Berberh  repens.)     On  Loup  and  Nio- 
brara.    One  foot  high  in  the  mountains;  here  from  one  to  two  feet 
high. 

3.  Downy  Hudsonia  (Hudsonia  tcmentosa^     In  counties  border- 
ing   the    Missouri,   and    occasionally    in  Johnson,   Lancaster   and 
Satmders.    Everywhere  rather  rare. 

4.  Shrubby     St.  John's    Wort     (Hypericum  prolificum.)     Have 
seen  it  only  on  south  side  of  the  Nemaha  in  Richardson  County. 

5.  Naked  Clustered  St.  John's  Wort  (H.  mtdiflarum^     Widely 
spread  over  eastern  Nebraska,  but  nowhere  abundant.     Have  seen 
it  on  the  Republican,  on  Wood  River  and  the  Elkhorn. 

6.  Prickley  Ash  (Zanthaxyfam  Americanum]     Along  the  Mis- 
souri, Niobrara,  Blue,  Republican,  etc. 


92  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

7.  Hop  Tree  (Ptelea  trifoliata^     Only  found   a   few  specimens 
in  Dakota  and  Dixon  Counties,  and  on  the  Niobrara. 

8.  Smooth  Sumach  (Rhus  glabra?)     Common  in  Nebraska. 

9.  Dwarf  Sumach  (/?.  copallina?)     Only  met  with  at   long  in- 
tervals in  the  eastern  counties. 

10.  Fragrant  Sumach  (R.  aromatica^]     Have  found  this  only  on 
the  Niobrara. 

11.  Alder-leaved  Buckthorn  (Rhamnus  alnifolius^]     Have  only 
met  it  at  long  intervals  in  northeastern  Nebraska. 

12.  New  Jersey  Tea  (Ceanothus  Americanus.)     Common. 

13.  Dwarf  Redroot  (C.  ovalis.)     Widely    dispersed   as  the  fore- 
going, but  not  so  abundant. 

14.  Climbing,  Bitter  Sweet  (Cetastrus  scandens?)     Common   in 
woodlands.     Have  seen  it  as  far  west  as  101°  meridian. 

15.  Spindle  Tree  (Euonymus  atropurpureusl)     Only  occasionally 
found  on  the  borders  of  timber  belts. 

16.  Strawberry  Bush  (E.  Americanus.)     Rarer  than  the  preced- 
ing, but  found  at  long  intervals  over  the  greater  part  of  eastern 
Nebraska. 

17.  Var.  obovatus  of    the  preceding,   I   found   only  in    Dakota 
County. 

18.  American  Bladder  Nut  (Staphylea  trifolia.}     Common  along 
the  Missouri  bluffs,  on  the  Nemaha.     Occasionally  on  the  Blues  and 
on  the  Niobrara. 

19.  False  Indigo  (Amorpho  fruttcosa.)     Common  along  all   our 
principal  water  courses. 

20.  Yellow  or  Red  Plum  (  Prunus  Americana?)     Found   in  the 
thickets  in  and  bordering  timber  belts,  in  canyons,  draws  and  narrow 
valleys  in  almost  every  county  in  the  State.     In  many  places  very 
abundant. 

21.  Chickasaw  Plums  (P?  chicasa.}     Same  distribution  as  the 
preceding. 

22.  Dwarf  Cherry— Sand   Hill   Cherry  (P.  Pumilla.)       Found 
most  abundantly  in  central  and  western  Nebraska,  on  sand  hills  and 
on  sandy  land. 

23.  Choke  Cherry  (P.  Vtrgimana.}     Found  all  along  the  Mis- 
souri, on  the  Niobrara,  Platte,  Nemaha,  and  in  places  on   the  Re- 
publican.    Sometimes  becomes  a  small  tree. 

24.  Nine  Bark  (Spircea  apulifolta.}     This  shrub  grows  from  four 
to  six  feet  high.     On  the  Niobrara,  and  rarely  in  eastern  Nebraska. 


FOEEST   TREES    AND   SHRUBS.  93 

25.  Var.  parvifolia  occurs  only  rarely,  on  the  Niobrara. 

26.  Meadow  Sweet  (S.  salicifolia.}     On  low  grounds  in  eastern 
Nebraska.     Have  seen  most  in  Dakota  County. 

27.  Cercocarpus parvifolius.    Diffusely  branches  from  the  ground, 
with  tomentose  leaves  six  to  eight  lines  long.     Have  found  it  only 
on  the  Niobrara. 

28.  Scarlet  Fruited  Thorn  (Crataegus  coccinea.)    This  sometimes 
becomes  a  small  tree.     Not  abundant,  but  widely  spread  in  wood- 
lands over  eastern  Nebraska. 

29.  Black  Thorn  (C.  tomentosa.)     Sometimes  a  low  tree.     Most 
abundant  along  the  Missouri  and  on  the  Niobrara.     Found  at  longer 
distances  on  the  Blue,  Republican,  Elkhorn  and  Loup. 

30.  Var  molts  of  the  above  I   have  seen  only  once  on  the  Re- 
publican. 

31.  June  Berry  (Amelanchier  Canadensis.)    Frequently  met  with 
in  woodlands  over  eastern  Nebraska,  on  the  Republican,  Elkhorn, 
and  quite  abundant  on  the  Niobrara. 

32.  Var.  Botrychium.     Only  on  the  Niobrara. 

33.  Var.  Ablongifolia.     Quite  small.     Southeast  Nebraska. 

34.  Var.  Alnifolia.     More  abundant  than  the  type  form,  and  in 
the  same  localities. 

35.  Climbing  Prairie  Rose  (Rosa  satigera.)     Northeastern  Ne- 
braska.    Have  found  the  most  in  Dakota  County. 

36.  Swamp  Rose  (R.  Carolina.)     Most  abundant  in  Northeast- 
ern Nebraska,  and  rare  south  of  the  Platte. 

37.  Dwarf  Wild  Rose  (R.  lucida.)     Abundant  everywhere. 

38.  Early  Wild  Rose  (R.  olanda.)     Found  all  over  the  State. 

39.  Wild  Gooseberry  (  Riots  cynosbati.)      Northeastern  Nebras- 
ka, and  on  the  Niobrara. 

40.  Smooth   Wild   Gooseberry  (R,    Rotundifoltum.)      Common 
all    over   Nebraska,  in  woodlands,  sheltered  valleys, ^canyons  and 
draws. 

41.  Swamp    Gooseberry    (R.   lacustre.}      Abundant  along   the 
Missouri  bottoms  and  in  spots  on  the  Nemaha,  Platte,   Elkhorn,. 
Loup  and  Republican. 

42.  Smooth  Wild  Gooseberry  (R.  hirtellum.}     Common  in  most 
woodlands  in  Nebraska.     Many  forms  of  gooseberry  have  not  yet 
been  reduced  to  order.     They  grow  here  with  an  exceptional  lux- 
uriance.    See  chapter  on  Wild  Fruits. 

43.  Wild  Black  Currant  (R.floridum.)     Occasionally  found  OB 


94  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

the  Missouri  bottoms  and  its  tributaries,  and  on  the   Republican. 
Most  abundant  on  the  Niobrara. 

44.  Missouri   Currant    (J?.    aureum.)      Rare  in   southeast    Ne- 
braska.    On  the  Loup  and  the  Niobrara,  and  occasionally   on  the 
Elkhorn. 

45.  Dwarf  Cornel   (Cornus  Canadensis^]      This  barely  a  shrub. 
Stem  mostly  subterranean,  and  only  five  or  six  inches  above  ground. 
On  the  Niobrara. 

46.  Round  Leafed  Cornel  (C.  cirdnnata?)     Occurs  sparingly  in 
most  of  the  woodlands  in  eastern  Nebraska,  on  the  Republican,  and 
more  abundantly  on  the  Niobrara. 

47.  Kinnikinnick  (C.  sertcea.)       More  abundant  than  the  last. 
Found  in  most  of  the  woodlands  of  the  State. 

48.  Red-osier  Dogwood  (C.  stolonifera^]     Most  abundant  in  the 
timber  belts  and  their  borders  in  northeastern  Nebraska,  and  on  the 
Niobrara.     Rare  in  south  Nebraska. 

49.  Rough-leaved  Dogwood  (C.  asperifolia^)     Sparingly  in  tim- 
ber belts  in  southeast  Nebraska.     Have  only  met  it  in  Dakota  and 
Cedar  counties  in  north  Nebraska. 

50.  Panicled  Cornel  ( C.  paniculata^)     Rare.      Only  found  a  few 
on  the  Niobrara. 

51.  Alternate-leaved  Cornel  (C.  alternifolia^      Rare.     Only  in 
northeastern  Nebraska. 

52.  Cornus  pubesceus.      North  branch  of  the  Platte,  and  on  the 
Niobrara. 

53.  Wolf  berry  (Symphoricarpus  occidentalism)  Common  in  timber 
belts  and  their  borders. 

54.  Snowberry  (S.  racemosus.)    Common  on  the  prairies  and  bor- 
ders of  woodlands. 

55.  Var.  parciflorus  of  the  above   mostly   in  southeastern  Ne- 
braska. 

56.  American  Woodbine  (Lonicera  grata.)  Rare.    Only  in  north- 
east Nebraska. 

57.  Yellow  Honeysuckle  (L.  flava^)     Rather  abundant.     Have 
seen  it  on  the  Niobrara  as  far  west  as    102°   meridian,  and  on  the 
Republican  as  far  west  as  the  Arickaree.    Lines  the  sides  of  wooded 
bluffs  and  their  borders. 

58.  Hairy    Honeysuckle  (L.  hirmta.)      Rare.     Have  only   ob- 
served it  once  on  the  side  of  a  bluff  above  Ponca,  and  once  near  the 
Yellow-banks  on  the  Elkhorn. 


FOREST   TREES    AND   SHRUBS.  95 

59.  L.  involucrata.     On  the  North  Platte  and  on  the   Niobrara. 

60.  Bush  Honeysuckle  (Diervilla  trifida.)     Counties  on  the  Mis- 
souri, north  of  the  Platte  and  on  the  Niobrara. 

61.  Elder  (Sambucus  Canadensts.)     Sometimes  is  here  ten  feet 
high.     Common  and  abundant. 

62.  Red-berried  Elder  (S.  pubens.)      Rare.     Have  seen  it   only 
on  the  Niobrara. 

63.  Maple-leaved  Arrow- wood    (Viburnum  acerifolium.)      Have 
seen  it  only  on  the  Niobrara. 

64.  Var. paudflorum.     Extreme  western  Nebraska,  and  the  Nio- 
brara.    Rare. 

65.  Button  Bush  ( Cephalanthus  occidentalism)     Sparingly  in  east- 
ern Nebraska,  along  the  Missouri. 

66.  Small    Cranberry  (Vaccinium   oxycoccus.)      In  bogs   at  the 
head  waters  of  the  Loups  and  their  tributaries.     Four  to  nine  feet 
high. 

67.  Dwarf  Bilberry  ( V.  caespifosum.)     Rarely  met  with  in  north- 
east Nebraska,  and  on  the  Niobrara. 

68.  Bearberry  (Archtostaphylos  Uva-ursi.)      In  the  middle  Nio- 
brara region. 

69.  Canadian   Sheperdia  (Sheperdia  Canadensts.)     On  the  Nio- 
brara. 

70.  Buffalo  Berry  (S.  argentea.)     Common  in  northeastern  Ne- 
braska, in  most  timber  belts,   especially  on  the   Missouri  bottoms, 
and  on  the  Platte.     Is  very  abundant  on  the   Republican,    and  in 
places  almost  to  the  west  line  of  the  State.     On  the  Elkhorn  and 
Loups.      Abundant   on   the  Niobrara.       Deserves    cultivation  for 
its  beauty,   hardihood  and  fruit.      Grows  sometimes   into  a  small 
tree. 

71.  Dwarf  Chestnut  Oak  (Quercus  prinoides.)     On  the  Missouri 
bottoms  and  edge  of  bluffs.    Nemaha,  Elkhorn,  and  on  the  Niobrara . 

72.  Beaked  Hazelnut  (Corylus  rostrata.)     Northern  and  north- 
eastern Nebraska. 

73.  Wild  Hazelnut  ( C.  Americana.)     Abundant  and  widely  dis- 
tributed.    Along  almost  the  whole  length  of  the  Niobrara,  on  the 
Elkhorn,  Missouri  bluffs,  Platte,  Loups  and  Republican. 

74.  Sweet  Gale  (Myrica  gale.)      In   Dakota,  Dixon  and    Cedar 
counties,  and  on  the  lower  Niobrara. 

75.  Sweet  Fern   (Comptonia  asplenifolia.)      Found   occasionally 
on  the  sides  of  bluffs  over  eastern  Nebraska. 


96  PHYSICAL,   GEOGRAPHY. 

76.  Low  Birch  (Betula  pumtlla.)       Found  rather  frequently  in 
most  of  the  timber  belts  on  the  Missouri,  Nemaha  and  Niobrara. 

77.  Western  Birch  (13.  ocddentallis^)     Have  found  it  only  on  the 
Niobrara. 

78.  Green  Alder  (Alnus  vtridts.)      Have  found  it   only  on  the 
Niobrara. 

79.  Speckled  Alder  (A.  in f ana.)     Sparingly  in  Northeastern  Ne- 
braska. 

80.  Smooth  Alder  (A.  serrulata.)     Rare   in    eastern    Nebraska. 
Have  only  found  half  a  dozen  specimens  along  the  counties  on  the 
Missouri. 

Si.     Hoary  Willow  (Satix  Candida.)     Common  in  low  situations 
over  the  greater  part  of  Nebraska. 

82.  Dwarf  Gray  Willow  (S.  fristis.)     In  eastern  Nebraska;  most 
abundant   north   of  the  Platte,  and   especially   on    the    Niobrara. 
Rarely  on  the  Republican. 

83.  Bush   Willow  (S.  humilisl)      Missouri   bottoms,   Niobrara. 
Loups,  Elkhorn,  Logan,  Platte  and  Republican. 

84.  Glaucous  Willow   (S.  discolor?)      Sometimes    a   small  tree. 
Republican  River,  Willow  Creek,  Loups,  Elkhorn,   and   Missouri 
bottoms. 

85.  Heart-leaved    Willow     (S.    cordata.)        Lower     Niobrara,. 
Platte,  Nemaha,  Republican,  and  occasionally  on  the  Missouri  bot- 
toms. 

86.  Narrow-leaved  Willow   (S.  attgustata.)     Common  over  the 
State.    Have  observed  it  on  the  west  line  of  the  State  on  the   Re- 
publican and  Niobrara.     On  Loups,  Elkhorn,  etc. 

87.  Long  Beaked  Willow  (S.  rostrata.)     Habital   same   as   the 
preceding.     Often  a  small  tree. 

88.  Shining  Willow  (S.  lucida.)      Low  bottoms  in  eastern  and 
northern  Nebraska,  and  on  some  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Repub- 
lican. 

89.  Long  Silver-leaved  Willow  (S.   longifolia,   var.  argophylla.} 
Mostly  a  shrub,  but  sometimes  becomes  a  tree.     Loup  Rivers,   Ni- 
obrara, Republican  and  Missouri. 

90.  Stalk-fruited  Willow  (S. pedtcellaris.)     On  the  Niobrara. 

91.  Common  Juniper   (Juniperus  communts.)     Missouri  River,, 
counties  north  of  the  Platte,  and  the  Niobrara. 


WILD    FRUITS   OF   NEBRASKA.  97 


CHAPTER  IX, 

THE  WILD  FRUITS  OF  NEBRASKA. 

PLUMS. — Prunus  Americana. — Its  appearance,  habits,  abundance,  and 
qualities.— P.  Chicasa.— Hybrids.— A  late  variety.— Cultivation.— Stock  for 
grafting  peaches,  plums,  and  apricots. — Hardiness. — The  Curculio. — P.Pumila, 
or  sand-hill  cherry. — P.  Pennsylvanic. — P.  Virginica. — STRAWBERRIES. — Fra- 
garia  vesca. — Delicious  and  abundant. — F.  Virginiana — RASPBERRIES. — Ru- 
bus  Occidentalis. — R.  Triflorus. — R.  Strigosus. — R.  Villosus. — HAWTHORNS. — 
Crataegus  tomentosa. — C.  Malis. — JUNE  BERRIES. — Araalanchier  Canadensis. 
— A.  Alinifolia. — WILD  CURRANTS  AND  GOOSEBERRIES. — Ribes  Hirtellum. — 
R.  Rotundifolium. — R.  Lacustre. — R.  Cynosbati. — R.  Floridum. — GRAPES. — 
Vitis  sestivalis. — V.  Cordifolia. — Re-classification  and  hybrids. — Wine. — THE 
MULBERRY.  —  THE  BUFFALO  BERRY. —  Shepherdia  Argentia. — THE  EL- 
DERBERRY.—  THE  PAP  AW.  —  Asimina  triloba. — NUTS.  —  Juglans  nigra. — 
Carya  Alba. — Corylus  Americanus. 

WILD  fruits  are  a  prominent  feature  of  Nebraska.     They   lux- 
uriate in  its  rich  soil    and    almost  semi-tropical    summers. 
Among  the  wild  fruits  of  this  State  the  plum  family  is  a  remarka- 
ble example  of  how  nature  herself  sometimes  ameliorates   and  im- 
proves her  original  productions. 

There  are  three  type  species  of  plums  in  the  State,  namely,  Pru- 
nus Americana,  P.  chicasa,  and  P.pumila.  Of  these  there  is  an  al- 
most endless  number  of  varieties.  In  a  plum  thicket  in  Dakota 
County,  covering  only  a  few  acres,  I  counted,  while  in  fruit,  nine- 
teen varieties  of  Prunus  Americana  and  P.  chtcasa,  varying  in  size 
from  a  fourth  to  an  inch  and  a  quarter  in  diameter,  and  in  color 
from  almost  white  and  salmon,  to  many  shades  of  yellow,  tinged 
with  green  and  red,  and  from  a  light,  dark,  and  scarlet  red,  to  pur- 
ple tinged  with  different  shades  of  yellow.  Such  instances  are  fre- 
quent over  most  portions  of  the  State,  the  plums  being  common  in 
almost  every  county,  especially  along  the  water  courses,  and  border- 
ing the  belts  of  timber.  These  plum  groves  in  spring  time  present 
a  vast  sea  of  flowers,  whose  fragrance  is  wafted  for  miles,  and 
whose  beauty  attracts  every  eye.  The  varieties  of  the  Prunus 
7 


98  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Americana  have  oval  or  obovate  leaves  (broader  at  the  tip  than 
where  the  stem  is  attached),  with  saw-toothed  or  doubly  saw-toothed 
edges  and  very  full  of  veins.  The  fruit  is  globular  or  oval,  and 
ranges  from  a  half-inch  to  an  inch  and  a  quarter  in  diameter,  the 
latter  being  an  exceptionally  large  size.  The  color  is  all  shades  of 
yellow,  with  some  red  and  crimson.  Its  juice  is  pleasant,  but  its 
skin  is  tough  and  acerb;  and  its  stone  is  sharp  edged  or  margined. 
The  shrub  varies  in  height  from  six  to  twenty-five  feet.  The  fruit 
ripens  in  August  and  the  first  half  of  September.  These  are  the 
prevailing  characters,  but  they  vary  greatly,  some  of  the  varieties 
producing  fruit  which  is  a  great  improvement  in  size  and  taste  on 
the  type  species,  while  others  again  have  deteriorated.  Nearly  all 
the  varieties  part  readily  from  the  stone. 

Still  more  subject  to  change  is  the  Prunus  chicasa,  which  grows 
from  four  to  twelve  feet  in  height,  sometimes  thorny,  and  always 
with  long,  narrow,  almost  lance-shaped,  acute  leaves,  whose  edges 
are  set  with  very  fine  teeth.  The  fruit  is  globular,  of  all  shades  of 
red,  and  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  or  more  in  diameter,  of  pleas- 
ant (some  varieties,  of  delicious)  flavor,  thin-skinned,  and  contain- 
ing an  almost  round  and  entirely  marginless  stone.  Most  of 
the  varieties  of  this  plum  do  not  part  readily  from  the  stone.  The 
fruit  ripens  the  latter  part  of  July  and  in  August. 

I  have  found  many  forms  that  cannot  be  readily  classed  with  eith- 
er of  these  species,  but  seem  to  be  a  cross  between  the  two.  In 
fact  these  plums  often  hybridize.  This  is  not  strange  where  both 
species  often  grew  together  in  such  compact  thickets  that  it  is  difficult 
to  penetrate  them.  When  the  pollen  of  the  one  is  carried  to  the  pis- 
tils of  the  other  species  the  young  plants  that  come  from  the  seeds 
must  exhibit  some  characters  which  are  common  to  both. 

One  variety  of  the  Prunus  Americana,  that  grows  from  six  to  ten 
feet  in  height,  and  has  greenish  white  fruit,  occasionally  tinged  with 
yellow,  rarely  ripens  its  fruit.  I  have  seen  its  fruit  hard  and  green 
towards  the  end  of  October;  but  when  plucked,  even  then,  and 
stowed  away  in  an  empty  room,  it  readily  ripens,  like  pears  when 
similarly  treated.  Occasionally  a  tree  is  found  producing  a  little 
round  red  plum,  slightly  larger  than  a  morella  cherry,  which  bears 
double  fruit. 

Delicious  as  some  of  these  wild  plums  are,  their  size  and  flavor 
are  much  improved  by  cultivation  and  pruning.  It  is  easy  to  pro- 


WILD    FRUITS   OF   NEBRASKA.  99 

duce  an  early  and  fruitful  grove  of  these  plums  from  the  seed.  A 
tree  grown  in  my  former  grounds  in  Dakota  City  yielded  thirty- 
nine  blossoms  the  second  year  from  the  seed,  and  seven  hundred 
and  ninety  the  third  year.  It  is  also  found  that  these  wild  plums 
are  magnificent  stock  on  which  to  graft  the  peach,  other  varieties  of 
plums,  and  the  apricot.  Their  great  hardiness,  and  the  readiness 
with  which  they  unite  with  the  old  cultivated  plums,  makes  them 
invaluable  to  those  who  raise  such  fruit. 

Alas!  there  is  one  drawback  to  this  picture.  The  everlasting 
enemy  of  the  plum,  the  curculio,*  is  also  present.  The  young  fruit 
sets  each  year  by  the  million,  but  some  of  the  finest  groves  are 
sometimes  for  years  in  succession  prevented  by  this  cause  from 
bearing  much  fruit.  Yet  so  great  is  the  vitality  of  the  plum  fami- 
ly in  this  State  that  some  varieties  will  succeed  even  in  despite  of 
the  curculio.  One  such  grove  I  found  years  ago  along  the  bluffs 
southwest  of  Dakota  City.  The  trees  were  laden  with  fruit  even 
when  all  the  other  groves  in  the  neighborhood  were  almost  entire- 
ly shorn  of  their  treasures.  The  foliage  indicated  a  hybrid  between 
the  two  species  under  consideration,  at  least  it  possessed  some  char- 
acteristics that  belonged  to  these  two  separately,  along  with  others 
of  its  own.  The  fruit  was  large  for  wild  plums,  the  skin  tough, 
though  comparatively  thin,  and  could  readily  be  pared.  The  flesh 
was  hard  and  acid  until  it  was  fully  ripe,  when  it  became  juicy  and 
melting.  I  have  no  doubt  varieties  of  this  kind  could  be  selected 
from  these  ample  stores  of  nature  which  would  be  of  incalculable 
value  to  the  horticulturist. 

The  dwarf  or  sand-hill  cherry,  so  famous  on  our  western  plains, 
is  really  botanically  a  dwarf  plum,  (Prunus pumild) — and  therefore 
we  speak  of  it  last.  The  stem  is  smooth,  depressed,  trailing  or 
semi-erect,  from  eight  to  twenty-four  inches  high.  The  leaves  are 
obovate  lanceolate,  tapering  to  the  base,  sometimes  a  little  toothed 
towards  the  apex,  and  pale  underneath;  the  flowers  numerous,  two 
to  four  in  a  cluster.  The  fruit  varies  greatly,  but  is  generally 
about  half  an  inch  long  and  three-eighths  broad,  ovoid,  dark  pur- 
ple, brown  purple,  brown,  reddish,  or  nearly  black,  generally  sweet, 
sometimes  delicious  and  occasionally  almost  insipid.  It  is  enor- 
mously productive.  The  shrub  has  a  spreading  habit,  form- 
ing dense  masses,  sometimes  covering  from  thirty  to  sixty 


*  Conotrachelus  nenuphar,  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  "plum  weevil." 


100  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

square  feet  of  ground,  but  usually  the  tufts  are  not  more  than 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  in  area.  It  suckers  abundantly  from  the 
roots,  and  propagates  in  this  way  as  well  as  by  seeds.  It  is  found 
over  the  greater  part  of  the  western  half  of  the  State,  and  while 
it  is  not  excluded  from  the  richest  soil  if  dry,  it  seems  to  be  partial 
to  sandy  localities,  rich  in  alkaline  earths.  As  this  plum  is  nearly 
related  to  some  of  our  cultivated  varieties  of  cherries,  and  the  sta- 
mens and  pistils  of  the  flowers  are  large  in  both,  it  will  require  no 
great  skill  to  produce  a  cross  between  them.  And  as  Fuller  has 
remarked  ("Small  Fruit  Culturist"),  a  cross  between  the  dwarf 
plum  and  a  Bigarreau  or  Morella  variety,  retaining  the  dwarf  hab- 
it, vigor,  and  productiveness  of  the  former,  with  the  flavor  of  the 
latter,  would  be  an  acquisition  of  incalculable  value,  and  would  com- 
pletely revolutionize  cherry  culture.  However  this  may  be,  the 
best  varieties  of  the  dwarf  cherry  are  valuable  as  they  come  from 
the  hand  of  nature.  Many  an  explorer  and  traveler  in  the  unset- 
tled regions  has  been  refreshed  by  them,  and  the  day  is  not  distant 
when  this  fruit  will,  as  it  deserves  to,  have  a  place  in  the  gardens  of 
all  the  people. 

Three  species  of  wild  cherries  grow  in  various  parts  of  the  State. 
The  wild  red  cherry,  (Prunus  Pennsylvania],  grows  sometimes  to 
the  dimensions  of  a  small  tree.  Its  leaves  are  oblong,  lanceolate,, 
pointed,  margins  finely  saw-toothed,  green  on  both  sides,  flowers 
on  long  stems,  and  the  fruit  of  a  light  red  color,  sour,  very  small 
and  of  little  merit.  The  wild  black  cherry,  {Prunus  scritina),  is  val- 
uable only  for  its  wood,  which  is  close  grained,  reddish  or  brown- 
ish, and  highly  esteemed  by  the  cabinet  maker  for  the  high  polish 
of  which  it  is  capable.  The  lance  oblong,  smooth  leaves  are  taper 
pointed,  glandular  and  saw-toothed.  The  flowers  are  produced  in 
long  clusters  (racemes);  its  fruit  is  reddish  or  purplish  black,  ripen- 
ing in  autumn.  Though  the  fruit  is  not  sought  after  by  human  be- 
ings, it  is  eagerly  devoured  by  birds.  The  bark  is  a  remarkable 
tonic.  I  have  only  noticed  the  tree  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
State. 

The  choke  cherry  (Prunus  Virginica),  is  a  tall  shrub  with  greyish 
bark,  oval,  oblong,  or  obovate  and  abruptly  pointed  thin  leaves, 
very  slender,  sharp  saw-toothed,  and  from  two  to  three  inches 
long.  The  flowers  are  in  a  short  close  cluster.  The  fruit  ripens 
in  summer,  and  is  of  a  dark  red  color,  and  very  astringent  to  the 
taste,  but  rather  agreeable. 


WILD    FRUITS    OF   NEBRASKA.  101 

STRAWBERRIES. 

Two  species  and  one  variety  of  strawberries,  with  endless  modi- 
fications, are  common  all  over  Eastern  Nebraska.  They  flourish  on 
the  sides  of  the  bluffs,  and  at  the  edge  of  timber  belts,  from  which 
they  creep  far  out  on  the  prairies.  Perhaps  the  commonest  straw- 
berry is  Fragaria  vesca,  which  has  produced  the  Alpine,  Wood, 
Perpetual,  and  many  other  varieties.  Here  it  is  mostly  slender, 
•with  thin  dull  leaves,  strongly  marked  by  the  veins,  calyx  open  or 
reflexed  after  flowering;  and  fruit  inclined  to  be  conical  or  elongat- 
ed, much  like  the  so-called  lady  finger,  and  fully  as  large  and  high 
scented.  The  runners  often  creep  several  feet.  This  strawberry 
varies  so  much  that  I  have  often  been  unable  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  Fragaria  Virginiana  except  by  one  character,  its  seeds  (akenes], 
which  are  always  superficial,  and  seem  to  stick  out  of  the  berry.  So 
abundant  is  this  fruit  in  some  seasons  that  the  ground  in  its  favorite 
retreats  seems  absolutely  red  with  it.  Once  when  making  a  survey 
of  some  timber  lands  in  Dakota  County,  on  a  sultry  July  day,  and 
almost  exhausted  by  the  heat  and  from  thirst,  I  unexpectedly  came 
to  a  patch  of  these  berries  in  an  opening  of  the  woods.  Never  be- 
fore was  I  so  grateful  for  fruit,  and  fruit  that  was  delicious  enough 
to  adorn  the  finest  tables  in  Christendom.  As  already  intimated, 
this  species  is  the  most  variable  of  all  the  strawberries.  It  is  found 
all  over  Europe  and  in  all  the  high  and  on  many  of  the  low  lands  of 
Ndrth  America.  Its  tendency  to  become  everbearing,  so  strikingly 
exemplified  elsewhere,  is  also  characteristic  of  it  in  many  places  in 
Nebraska.  I  have  noticed  localities  where  it  produced  a  succession 
of  ripe  berries  for  two  months. 

The  other  species  common  to  this  State  is  Fragaria  Virginiana. 
It  is  the  original  of  the  American  scarlet  and  innumerable  other  va- 
rieties. It  can  be  distinguished  from  the  former  by  the  seeds  (akenes) 
being  sunk  in  the  flesh  of  the  berry.  Its  runners  are  seldom  over  a 
foot  long.  Its  flowers  however  are  staminate,  that  is,  its  male  and 
female  organs  arc  on  different  plants.  There  is  an  insensible  gra- 
dation between  this  species  and  the  variety  Illinoiensis  of  Gray, 
which  is  coarser  and  larger,  and  the  hairs  which  are  scattered  over 
it,  especially  on  the  flower  stock,  are  rougher.  The  strawberries  of 
Nebraska  need  to  be  thoroughly  examined.  Certainly  where  there 
is  such  a  tendency  shown  to  varieties  and  improvement,  some  of  the 
most  promising,  under  the  skillful  treatment  of  the  gardener,  would 
become  permanent  additions  to  our  list  of  desirable  small  fruits. 


102  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

RASPBERRIES 

are  represented  in  Nebraska  by  three  species.  A  black  raspberry, 
a  variety  of  Rubus  occidentalism  is  common  in  every  county.  It  is  a 
profuse  bearer,  and  the  fruit  is  nearly  a  third  larger  than  the  Amer- 
ican blackcap.  It  is  most  abundant  along  streams  and  in  woodlands 
and  their  borders.  Where  it  is  cultivated  the  canes  make  a  much 
stronger  growth  than  in  their  native  wilds,  though  even  there  some 
varieties  seem  equal  to  any  produced  in  gardens.  A  dwarf  rasp- 
berry, (Rubus  triflorus^  and  the  wild  red,  (Rubus  strigosus^)  were 
sent  to  me  in  flower  during  the  past  season  from  the  western  part  of 
the  State,  previous  to  which  I  was  not  aware  that  they  existed  with- 
in our  borders.  They  have  not  yet  been  found  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State. 

BLACKBERRIES. 

Of  these  only  one  species  has  yet  been  found  in  the  State.  This 
is  the  high  blackberry,  (Rubus  villosus).  It  is  rather  abundant  along 
some  of  the  streams  and  timber  belts  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
State.  Wherever  this  wild  variety  is  transplanted  into  gardens  and 
cultivated,  it  bears  large  quantities  of  delicious  fruit. 

HAWTHORNS. 

Though  unimportant  as  fruits  the  hawthorns  should  not  be  over- 
looked by  the  amateur  horticulturist.  The  blackthorn  (Crat&gus 
torn entosd],  and  its  variety  malis,  are  most  abundant.  It  is  a  shrub 
or  small  tree  from  six  to  twenty-five  feet  in  height.  The  leaves  are 
oval,  abrupt  at  the  base,  margins  sharply  saw-toothed  or  cut  into 
many  small  lobes,  and  downy  beneath,  especially  when  young. 
The  flowers  are  compacted  into  clusters  (corymbs)  of  from  six  to 
thirty  flowerlets  in  a  bunch.  The  fruit  is  scarlet  or  orange,  from 
two-thirds  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  long  and  rather  pleasant  to 
the  taste.  The  fruit  of  the  variety  mails  is  dull  red  and  more  insip- 
id. Though  not  esteemed  by  man,  the  fruit  is  eagerly  sought  after 
by  prairie  chickens  and  quail.  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  these  wild 
fowl  atone  time  feasting  on  this  fruit,  which  they  seemed  to  prefer 
in  its  season  to  all  other  food. 

THE  JUNE  BERRY. 

This  fruit  is  abundant  in  some  portions  of  Nebraska.  It  is  a  small 
tree  or  shrub,  from  ten  to  thirty-five  feet  in  height.  There  are  ap- 
parently three  or  four  species,  but  they  run  so  much  into  each  other, 


WILD    FRUITS   OF  NEBRASKA.  103 

that  botanists  as  yet  treat  them  as  one  species  with  many  varieties. 
It  is  known  as  Amelanchier  Canadensis.  The  variety  most  common 
here  is  Alinifolia,  with  roundish,  blunt  leaves,  which  are  toothed 
towards  the  summit.  The  flowers,  which  are  white,  are  produced 
in  long  loose  clusters  (racemes).  Berry  purplish,  sweet,  and  gener- 
ally deliciously-flavored.  This  berry  has  always  been  a  favorite 
with  the  Indians.  They  dry  and  mix  it  with  pemican  (preserved 
meats),  to  which  it  gives  a  delicious  flavor.  Nothing  is  supposed  to 
give  more  daintiness  to  an  Indian  feast  than  June  berries  boiled  in 
the  broth  of  fat  meat.  Children  of  every  age  equal  the  Indians  in 
their  admiratioji  and  enjoyment  of  June  berries.  It  would  "  pay" 
to  cultivate  them  for  "the  litttle  ones"  alone. 

WILD  CURRANTS  AND  GOOSEBERRIES. 

There  are  four  species  of  gooseberries  growing  wild  in  the 
State.  One  of  these,  a  "  Smooth  Wild  Gooseberry"  (Ribes  hirtel- 
luni),  has  smooth  stems,  short  thorns,  or  none,  and  smooth,  small, 
purple,  and  sweet  berries.  It  is  not  very  abundant.  Another 
"  Smooth  Wild  Gooseberry"  (R.  rotundifoliuni),  in  its  many  varieties, 
is  met  with  constantly,  especially  in  the  timber  and  along  our 
streams,  and  is  a  most  abundant  bearer.  The  leaves  are  nearly 
smooth,  roundish,  three  tofivelobed  and  truncate  at  the  base ;  stems 
slender  and  from  one  to  three  flowered.  It  grows  from  two  to  four 
feet  high,  the  stems  having  whitish  bark.  One  variety  of  this  spe- 
cies bears  a  berry,  long,  large,  and  green.  Another  variety,  which 
grows  from  three  to  four  feet  high,  sets  its  canes  thickly,  and  they 
are  covered  with  slim  thorns  of  a  brownish,  purplish  color.  The 
fruit  is  as  large  as  a  Houghton,  sometimes  larger,  somewhat  veined, 
and  of  a  clear,  glossy,  transparent  color,  oval  or  round,  and  some- 
timely  slightly  flattened  at  the  ends,  and  with  a  rich  vinous  flavor. 
I  have  found  a  few  specimens  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter 
when  ripe,  and  never  observed  them  to  be  affected  with  mildew. 
So  abundant  are  they  that  the  Indians  often  pick  many  bushels  per 
day  for  weeks  in  succession  and  carry  them  to  the  various  markets. 
They  bear  transportation  well.  Many  citizens  are  now  well  sup- 
plied with  these  berries  from  stocks  transplanted  from  the  woods 
into  their  own  grounds.  I  have  myself  planted  the  Houghton  in  a 
row  alongside  of  this  wild  variety,  and  the  latter  proved  superior 
in  productiveness  and  hardiness  to  the  former.  The  Swamp  Goose- 
berry (R.  lacustre),  whose  young  stems  are  clothed  with  bristly 


104  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

prickles,  and  small  weak  thorns,  and  whose  leaves  are  heart-shaped, 
and  from  three  to  five  parted,  and  the  lobes  cut,  and  whose  fruit  is 
bristly,  small,  and  disagreeable,  is  unimportant.  Even  birds  gener- 
ally give  it  a  wide  berth.  The  "Wild  Gooseberry"  (R.  Cynosbati), 
with  pubescent  leaves,  slender  peduncles  and  spines,  and  a  large 
berry  armed  with  long  bur-like  prickles,  is  no  better  than  the  last- 
In  a  few  localities  it  is  quite  abundant. 

Two  species  of  wild  currants  abound.  The  "  Wild  Black  Cur- 
rant" {R.  floriduni)  is  remarkable  for  its  large  flowers.  The  leaves 
are  from  five  to  seven-lobed,  doubly  saw-toothed,  and  generally 
sprinkled  with  resinous  dots,  slightly  heart-shaped,  and  the  racemes 
are  downy,  drooping;  the  fruit  is  round-ovoid,  black  and  smooth, 
and  in  smell  and  flavor  much  like  the  black  currant  of  the  garden 
The  Buffalo  or  Missouri  currant  also  abounds  in  many  localities.  It 
is  remarkable  for  the  spicy  fragrance  of  its  yellow  blossoms,  and  is 
often  cultivated  for  ornament.  Its  fruit  is  of  little  or  no  value. 

BLACK  HAWS. 

Recently  the  Black  Haws  (Viburnum  Prunifolium)  have  turned 
up  in  Nebraska.  They  escaped  my  notice  until  my  attention  was 
directed  to  them  by  J.  Gillman  Esq.,  of  Otoe  County.  The  leaves  and 
fruit  have  since  been  sent  to  me.  They  are  found  in  some  of  the  tim- 
ber belts  of  Otoe,  Cass,  and  Nemaha  counties.  Though  not  specially 
sought  after  for  its  fruit  except  by  birds,  its  broadly  oval  leaves,  its 
beautiful  form  and  flowers  make  it  a  desirable  tree  to  give  variety 
to  cultivated  grounds. 

GRAPES. 

Two  species  of  grapes,  with  a  great  number  of  hybrids  and  va- 
rieties, abound  in  Nebraska.  It  is  hard  to  realize  without  seeing  it, 
with  what  luxuriance  the  vine  grows  in  this  State.  Some  of  the 
timber  belts  are  almost  impassible  from  the  number  and  length  of 
the  vines,  which  form  a  network  from  tree  to  tree.  Straggling 
vines  are  sometimes  found  far  out  on  the  prairies.  Where  deprived 
of  any  other  support  they  creep  along  the  ground  and  over  weeds 
and  grass.  The  Summer  Grape  (Vitis  cestiva/ts)  can  generally  be 
recognized  by  the  downy  character  of  its  young  leaves,  which  are 
smooth  when  old.  They  are  simple,  rounded,  heart-shaped,  and 
often  variously  lobed.  The  panicles  are  compound,  long,  and  slen- 
der. The  berries  are  small,  from  one-third  to  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter;  color  black  with  a  bloom,  ripe  in  September  and  October. 


WILD  FRUITS  OF  NEBRASKA.  105 

The  Frost  Grape  (V.  cot dif olid]  has  thin  leaves,  heart-shaped, 
sharp-pointed,  sharply  and  coarsely  toothed,  and  sometimes  ob- 
scurely three-lobed.  The  bunch  is  compound,  large,  and  loose. 
The  berries  are  small,  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  broad,  and  blue 
or  black  with  a  bloom,  very  acerb,  and  ripening  after  frost.  Very 
late  in  autumn,  when  dead  ripe,  these  grapes  become  comparatively 
sweet.  As  already  intimated  there  are  many  forms  that  cannot 
well  be  classified  with  either  of  these  species.  Some  appear  to  be 
hybrids,  and  some  approach  one  or  the  other  more  closely,  but  va- 
rying much  from  them.  In  the  opinion  of  some  of  our  best  bota- 
nists a  thorough  re-examination  and  a  new  classification  of  these 
wild  grapes  is  needed.  There  is  as  much  difference  in  flavor  and 
quality  as  there  is  in  form.  Future  investigation  and  culture  will 
no  doubt  produce  from  these  wild  grapes  varieties  that  will  be  em- 
inently worthy  of  cultivation.  Their  superior  hardiness,  the  ease 
with  which  they  can  be  grown,  their  early  bearing,  and  the  compar- 
atively fine  flavor  of  many  of  them,  entitle  them  to  more  attention 
than  they  have  yet  received. 

A  great  deal  of  wine  has  been  manufactured  from  these  grapes  in 
some  portions  of  the  State.  The  wine  has  a  fine  body,  is  rather 
dark,  and  in  a  year  or  two  is  much  like  the  Oporto  in  flavor  and 
color.  It  is  sometimes  shipped  to  other  States  to  mix  with  wines 
manufactured  from  cultivated  grapes  to  give  them  body  and  color. 

THE  MULBERRY. 
Alonp-  the  bluffs  of  the  Missouri  and  some   of   its    tributaries  the 

o 

Red  Mulberry  (Jbforus  rubrd}  abounds.  Sometimes  it  is  a  mere 
shrub,  and  sometimes  it  reaches  the  dimensions  of  a  small  tree. 
Though  called  the  reel  mulberry,  its  fruit  in  Nebraska  is  as  often  of 
a  blackish  color,  as  reel  or  brown.  Its  sweetish  blackberry-like 
fruit  is  eagerly  sought  after  by  many  of  the  settlers,  and  seems  to 
be  one  of  the  special  delights  of  prairie  chickens,  quail,  \vild  tur- 
keys, and  other  birds.  At  least  I  have  often  found  them  feasting 
on  this  fruit.  This  tree  or  shrub  is  easily  cultivated,  and  is  often 
transplanted  for  ornament  and  for  its  fruit  into  cultivated  grounds. 

THE  BUFFALO  BERRY. 

The  Buffalo  Berry  (Shcpkerdia  argent ea]  is  found  on  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri,  the  Niobrara,  the  Platte,  the  'Republican  rivers, 
and  many  of  their  tributaries.  Though  not  yet  seen  in  cultivation 
it  deserves  a  place  in  every  fruit  garden.  It  varies  from  the  habit 


106  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

of  a  shrub  to  that  of  a  small  tree.  The  leaves  are  oblong,  silvery 
white,  the  branches  rusty  white,  and  sometimes  quite  thorny,  with 
numerous  thorn-like  limbs.  The  flowers  are  small,  yellow,  dioecious, 
the  sterile  ones  with  a  four-parted  calyx,  and  eight  stamens.  The 
fertile  flowers  have  a  calyx,  shaped  like  an  urn,  which  en- 
closes the  ovary  that  becomes  the  berry-like  fruit.  The 
fruit  is  roundish,  varying  in  color  from  a  dull  red  to  a 
scarlet,  slightly,  but  only  slightly,  acid,  and  until  quite  ripe, 
somewhat  astringent,  though  agreeable.  It  is  an  enormous 
bearer,  the  fruit  being  produced  in  very  compact  masses  in  the  axils 
of  the  branches.  The  fruit  ripens  in  early  autumn,  and  if  left  un- 
disturbed hangs  until  winter.  The  plant  is  very  hardy,  and  can  be 
grown  in  any  good  soil.  The  only  drawback  to  the  cultivation  of  this 
fruit  is  that  it  is  dioecious,  and  one  of  each  sex  must  be  planted  to 
obtain  fruit,  though  if  many  be  planted  in  a  row  or  cluster,  one 
staminate  or  male  tree  will  be  enough  to  fertilize  seven  or  eight 
pistillate  plants.  It  is  one  of  the  easiest  of  all  fruits  to  propagate. 
After  the  berries  are  gathered  and  the  seeds  removed  from  the  pulp, 
they  can  be  planted  at  once  or  kept  in  sand  until  spring.  They 
ought  to  be  sowed  in  drills  and  covered  about  two  inches  deep.  At 
one  year  old  they  should  be  transplanted  into  ordinary  nursery 
rows,  about  four  feet  apart.  In  three  years  from  the  seed  they  will 
bloom,  when  they  can  be  examined,  and  labels  attached  to  the  stam- 
inate plants,  after  which,  for  convenience  sake,  each  kind  had  bet- 
ter be  placed  in  a  row  by  itself. 

Wherever  this  berry  becomes  known  it  is  at  once  a  favorite,  and 
being  so  hardy  and  easily  propagated  it  soon  could  supply  the  set- 
tler with  an  abundance  of  delicious  berries.  Among  the  purposes 
for  which  it  is  used  is' the  manufacture  of  jelly,  of  which  it  produces 
an  article  that  for  richness  of  flavor  is  surpassed  by  no  other  fruit. 

Sheperdia  Canadensis,  which  is  found  on  the  Niobrara  is  scarcely 
less  beautiful  than  the  Buffalo  Berry.  Its  fruit  is  less  insipid  than 
represented,  and  is  even  esteemed  by  many.  The  berry  is  yellow- 
ish red. 

THE  ELDERBERRY. 

Many  of  the  emigrants  from  the  eastern  States  are  glad  to  find 
an  old  favorite,  the  Elderberry,  Sambucus  Canadensis,  among  the 
wild  fruits  of  Nebraska.  Though  the  shrub  which  produces  this 
berry  has  a  rather  rank  smell,  especially  when  bruised,  and  its  fruit 
is  seldom  eaten  in  a  raw  state,  yet  the  berries  are  really  so  delicious, 


WILD    FRUITS   OF   NEBRASKA.  107 

when  prepared  with  skill,  that  wherever  they  abound  they  are  eag- 
erly gathered,  and  dried  for  future  use,  or  manufactured  at  once  in- 
to various  kinds  of  jellies  or  sauce.  A  good  article  of  wine  is  fre- 
quently made  from  them.  The  stems  are  half  woody,  from  five  to 
ten  feet  high;  leaves  pinnate;  leaflets  from  seven  to  eleven,  ob- 
long, the  lower  often  three  parted;  the  flowers  are  small  and  white, 
in  compound  clusters  or  cymes;  fruit,  black  purple.  It  grows 
abundantly  all  over  eastern  Nebraska. 

THE  PAPAW. 

The  Papaw,  Asimina  triloba,  is  one  of  the  four  North  American 
representatives  of  a  large  tropical  family,  which  is  generally  aro- 
matic. Over  three  hundred  species  grow  in  the  two  tropical  hemi- 
spheres. Its  yellow  fruit  is  from  two  to  three  inches  long,  is  pulpy ^ 
with  many  flat  seeds,  fragrant,  and  ripe  in  October.  The  tree  is 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  high.  The  leaves  are  thin,  obovate,  lance- 
olate, and  pointed.  The  flowers  are  dull  purple;  the  petals  are 
veiny,  round-ovate,  and  the  outer  ones  from  three  to  four  times  as 
long  as  the  calyx.  The  flowers  appear  with  the  leaves  and  some- 
times precede  them.  It  is  only  found  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  State,  and  though  of  no  practical  value,  botanically  it  is  of  much 

interest. 

NUTS. 

Though  nuts  are  not  always  classed  with  fruits  it  seems  proper 
in  this  place  to  mention  the  few  that  abound  in  Nebraska.  First  in 
the  list  is  the  nut  of  the  noble  Black  Walnut  (Juglans  nigra).  A 
few  years  ago  this  tree  was  abundant  over  eastern  Nebraska.  So 
valuable,  however,  is  the  wood,  and  so  high  the  price  it  brings  in 
market,  that  in  many  places  where  great  numbers  formerly  existed 
it  is  becoming  quite  rare.  Fortunately,  this  tree  is  so  hardy  and  is 
so  easily  grown  from  the  seed,  that  great  numbers  are  started  in 
the  artificial  groves  that  are  planted  all  over  the  settled  portions  of 
the  State.  The  nuts  are  almost  as  much  of  a  favorite  with  adults 
as  with  children  ;  and  wherever  the  trees  remain  they  should  be 
carefully  preserved  to  supply  the  means  for  future  groves,  and  for 
the  intrinsic  value  of  their  fruit. 

In  a  few  places  along  the  Missouri  the  Shell-bark  Hickory  (Car- 
ya  alba)  abounds.  Though  not  in  sufficient  quantities  to  supply  the 
markets  with  hickory  nuts,  it  is  worthy  of  cultivation  for  its  timber, 
which  is  valuable  for  many  purposes  besides  fuel.  When  once 


108  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

grown,  groves  of  hickory  will  also  supply  an  almost  unfailing  har- 
vest of  nuts. 

The  Hazel  Nut  (  Corylus  Americanus),  is  widely  distributed  over 
the  State.  It  grows  here  from  four  to  seven  feet  high.  The  nuts 
have  been  as  much  of  a  favorite  with  the  Indians  as  they  are  now 
with  the  children  of  the  white  settlers. 


CHAPTER  X. 

WILD     GRASSES.* 

The  Most  Valuable  ones  of  Nebraska,  with  Notes    on  Their  Perpetua- 
tion, and  the  Disappearance  of  the  Buffalo  Grass. — Origin  of  our  Flora. 

VTEBRASKA  is  remarkable,  among  other  things,  for  its  wild 
1M  grasses.  They  constitute  everywhere  the  covering  of  the 
prairies.  Even  where  old  breaking  is  left  untilled,  the  grasses  vie 
with  the  weeds  for  possession,  and  often  in  a  few  years  are  victori- 
ous. Every  close  observer,  passing  through  the  State,  in  summer, 
must  notice  the  great  number  of  species,  and  their  vigorous  growth. 
I  have  in  my  collection  149  species  of  grasses  that  are 'native  to  the 
State.  Of  the  sedges  so  closely  related  to  them,  there  are  also  at 
least  150  species.  Of  course  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  value 
of  these  grasses.  Some  of  them  are  seldom  or  never  touched  by 
cattle,  while  others  are  sought  out  by  them  at  all  seasons.  The  fol- 
lowing, so  far  as  I  have  observed,  are  the  most  valuable: 

Sorgum  nutans,  Bouteloua  hirsuta, 

Andropogon  furcatus,  Bouteloua  curtipenclula, 

Andropogon  scoparius,  Bouteloua  oligostaclmi, 

Andropogon  Virginicus,  Festuca  ovina, 

Buchloe  Dactyloides,  Poa  serotina, 

Sporobolus  heterolepis,  Stipa  viridula. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  a  correct   estimate  of  the  proportions  in 
which  these  grasses  are  found  in  Nebraska,  as  they  vary   a  great 


*  First  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  with  the  following  note:  "  We  take  pleasure 
in  introducing  to  the  readers  of  the  Tribune  Prof.  Samuel  Auyhey,  of  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska, an  earnest,  enthusiastic  and  thoughtful  student,  who  is  most  esteemed  where  best 
known.  In  this,  his  initial  article,  he  does  not  write  from  compilation  or  hearsay.  He  has 
been  over  nearly  every  square  mile  of  the  territory  in  question,  some  portions  of  it  many 
.—  \Ed.  Tribune.'" 


WILD  GRASSES. 


109 


deal  from  year  to  year  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  In  the  eastern 
half  Andtopogon  furcatus,  A.  scoparius,  Bouteloua  curtipendula,  B. 
hirsuta,  Sorgum  nutans  and  Sporobolus  heterolepis  supply  perhaps 
about  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  the  grazing  and  hay  lands. 
For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  value  of  these  grasses,  com- 
pared with  cultivated  ones,  I  have  made  an  analysis  of  Sorgum  nutans 
and  Andropogon  furcatus.  The  analysis  of  red  clover,  white  clover 
and  lucerne  is  that  of  EinhofF  and  Cronie.  For  convenience,  they 
are  placed  in  parallel  columns : 


Sorgum    Anclropogon         Red 


White. 


Water 74.0 

Starch 1.9 

Woody  fibre 14.0 

Sugar 3.5 

Albumen 21 

Extractive  matter  and  gum. ...     2.9 

Fatty  matter 0.0 

Phosphate  of  Lime 1 .0 

100.0 


furcatus.         Clover.         Clover.    Lucerne. 


76.0 

76.0 

80.0 

75.0 

1.8 

1.4 

1.0 

2.2 

14.0 

13.9 

11.5 

14.3 

1.8 

2.1 

1.5 

0.8 

1.6 

2.0 

1.5 

1.9 

3.7 

3.5 

3.4 

4.4 

0.3 

0.1 

0.2 

0.6 

0.8 

1.0 

0.9 

0.& 

100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


The  substances  which  produce  fat,  such  as  sugar,  starch,  and 
gum,  contain  the  three  elements  of  carbon,  oxygen  and  hydrogen. 
Those  that  produce  muscle,  blood  and  nerves,  like  albumen,  contain 
in  addition  to  the  preceding,  nitrogen.  Now,  an  examination  of  the 
above  analysis  shows  that  all  the  essential  qualities  for  the  best  food 
for  cattle  are  contained  by  these  wild  grasses.  They  are  at  least 
equal,  if  not  superior  in  these  particulars,  to  the  best  cultivated 
forage  and  hay  crops.  It  will  also  be  noticed  that  in  phosphate  of 
lime,  so  essential  for  the  growth  of  bones  (uand  brain  food?")  these 
grasses  are  equally  well  supplied.  The  buffalo  grass  also  contains 
three  and  six- tenths  per  cent  of  saccharine  matter.  I  have  not  had 
time  to  carry  out  this  analysis  any  further.  First  in  the  list  of  Ne- 
braska grasses  is  Sorgum  nutans,  Gray.  The  only  popular  name 
that  I  have  heard  is  one  that  I  proposed  myself,  namely,  sorgum 
grass.  When  growing  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  it  is  not 
easy  to  distinguish  it  from  blue  joint.  As  soon,  however,  as  its 
tawny,  russet-like  spikelets  in  a  dense  panicle,  make  their  appear- 
pearance,  it  is  known  at  a  glance  among  any  number  of  other 
species.  Toward  the  end  of  the  season,  the  panicle  nods.  Spike- 
lets  are  generally  in  pairs  or  threes,  and  are  ciliate  with  a  ring  of 


110  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

bristles  at  the  base.  The  lower  paleae  are  tipped  with  a  contorted 
awn.  It  grows  from  three  to  six  feet  high.  I  have  seen  it  remarked 
that  some  seasons  it  does  not  produce  seed.  If  that  is  the  case  in 
this  State,  I  have  failed  to  observe  it.  This  grass  has  been  increas- 
ing rapidly  in  Nebraska.  It  competes  successfully  with  all  its  rivals 
for  the  possession  of  the  soil.  The  amount  now  growing  is  treble 
what  it  was  ten  years  ago.  This  season  it  monopolized  the  ground 
where,  in  former  years,  only  stray  stalks  were  seen.  It  produces 
the  best  hay  if  cut  just  before  frost.  For  hay  and  for  pastures  it  is 
one  of  the  noblest  of  the  grasses.  I  often  noticed,  when  camped 
on  the  plains,  that  it  was  the  first  choice  of  horses  after  the  buffalo 
grass  that  was  within  reach  was  all  consumed.  Whether  it  can  be 
domesticated,  remains  to  be  seen.  Three  years  ago  an  attempt  was 
made  to  grow  it  on  the  Agricultural  Farm,  but  the  locusts  ate  it 
as  fast  as  it  came  up.  It  did  not  survive  the  third  time  it  was  eaten 
off. 

Andropogon  furcatus,  Muhl. — This  is  also  a  valuable  grass  in 
this  State.  It  is  sometimes  called  blue  joint  in  the  West.  It  is 
often  confounded  wite  Andropogon  scoparius,  and  even  with  Sorgum 
nutans.  It  is  distinguished  by  having  from  three  to  five  straight 
and  rather  rigid  hairy  spikes,  from  three  to  five  inches  long,  to- 
gether at  the  naked  summit  (Gray),  and  of  a  purple  color.  Occa- 
sionally there  are  lateral  spikes.  The  stem  is  from  four  to  six 
feet  high.  Some  years  it  does  not  fruit,  but  the  cause  is  not  clear 
to  me,  as  this  occurs  in  wet  and  dry  seasons. 

Andropogon  scoparius,  Mich. — This  grass  is  in  some  places  even 
more  abundant  than  the  former,  but  generally  it  does  not  seem  to 
be  able  to  compete  with  it  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  I  am  not 
sure  which  of  these  two  is  the  most  valuable  for  feed.  It  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  former  by  not  being  more  than  half  as  tall  and 
by  having  a  paniculate  stem,  one  side  of  which  is  furrowed.  The 
spikes  are  simple,  lateral,  and  growing  from  the  end  on  rather  long 
peduncles,  two  or  three  being  found  on  each  sheath,  and  of  a  purple 
color.  It  is  generally  slightly  silky  and  hairy.  It  is  generally  dif- 
ficult to  distinguish  these  two  grasses  until  they  begin  to  flower. 

Andropogon  Virginicus,  L. — In  a  few  localities  in  Southern  Ne- 
braska this  grass  is  common.  Though  elsewhere  it  is  of  little  re- 
pute; here  I  have  often  seen  cattle  grazing  on  it,  and  apparently 
enjoying  it.  No  complaints  have  been  made  about  it  when  used  for 
hay.  The  stem  is  flat  below,  and  somewhat  downy  with  scattered 


WILD   GRASSES  111 

hairs.  The  leaves  are  long,  narrow  and  carinate.  Two  or  three 
spikes  are  together  in  different  appressed  clusters.  It  grows  from 
three  to  four  feet  high. 

Bouteloua  oligostachya,  Torr. — Until  within  a  few  years,  this  grass 
was  only  occasionally  met  with  in  eastern  Nebraska,  though  com- 
mon in  the  middle  and  western  portions  of  the  State,  where  it  has 
often  been  classed  with  the  gramma  grasses.  This  common  name, 
however,  is  indiscriminately  applied  to  several  other  species  in  as 
many  different  genera.  It  is  rapidly  moving  eastward.  This  year 
it  was  so  abundant  in  Lancaster  County  that  it  in  many  places  mon- 
opolized the  soil,  as  could  be  seen  on  the  wagon  road  between  Lin- 
coln and  Milford.  It  is  distinguished  by  spikelets  of  flowers  hang- 
ing from  one  side  of  the  axis  or  inflorescence.  From  three  to  five 
spikes  are  supported  on  each  stalk.  The  color  ranges  from  purple 
to  indigo  blue.  Its  height  varies  from  ten  to  sixteen  inches.  It  is 
exceptionally  smooth  and  hairless,  and  is  a  perennial.  For  grazing, 
this  grass  is  exceedingly  valuable,  and  where  it  grows  thick  and 
strong,  as  it  is  beginning  to  do  in  many  of  the  eastern  counties,  it 
makes  most  excellent  hay. 

Bouteloua  curtipendula,  Gray. — This  grass  is  abundant  in  many 
places.  It  grows  from  one  to  three  feet  high,  but  the  leaves  are 
scanty,  and  it  is  not  much  sought  after  by  stock.  It  is,  however,  a 
grass  of  great  beauty.  It  can  always  be  easily  recognized  by  its 
racemes,  which  are  from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  long,  and  contain 
from  fifteen  to  sixty  small  spikelets  of  a  purple  or  scarlet  color. 
For  its  beauty  it  deserves  a  place  in  the  garden,  if  not  in  the  field. 

Bouteloua  hirsuta,  Lagasca. — This  species  is  frequently  confounded 
with  B.  oligostachya.  The  whole  stalk  is  somewhat  hairy.  When 
ripening,  the  spikes  are  curved,  short,  and  somewhat  bristly,  be- 
cause of  the  great  number  of  stiff  hairs  that  grow  from  the  dark 
colored  glands  of  the  glumes.  In  sterile  situations  in  the  western 
part  of  the  State,  it  is  short,  but  further  east,  where  it  is  increasing 
rapidly,  it  is  from  ten  to  sixteen  inches  high.  Though  perhaps  not 
so  valuable  as  the  preceding  for  forage  and  hay,  yet  here  herds  of 
cattle  are  often  seen  grazing  on  and  apparently  enjoying  and  fatten- 
ing on  it. 

Sporobolu s  heterolepis,  Gray. — This  grass  is  abundant  in  some  por- 
tions of  the  State.  It  makes  good  hay,  for  which  it  is  often  used. 
It  grows  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  inches  high.  Its  leaves,  which 
grow  from  the  base  of  the  plant,  are  thread-like  and  remarkable 


112  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

for  being  as  long  as  the  stalk,  and  bending  over  gracefully  until 
the  tips  touch  the  ground.  It  has  a  great  tendency  to  produce 
stools.  The  stalk  is  naked  above,  bearing  a  small  loose  panicle 
whose  sharp-pointed  spikelets  bear  round  seeds.  The  seeds,  when 
bruised,  give  out  a  strong  odor,  which  is  offensive  to  some  olfactories. 
It  does  not  fruit  in  some  dry  seasons. 

Spartina  cynosuroides,  Wild. — This  grass  is  abundant  in  some 
places,  but  unfortunately,  it  is  worthless.  It  is  known  as  cord,  and 
fresh  water  grass.  It  makes  a  poor  article  of  hay,  but  its  very 
abundance  tempts  many  to  use  it  for  this  purpose.  Only  extreme 
hunger  will  induce  animals  to  eat  it.  It  can  be  recognized  by  its- 
slender  stem,  which  grows  from  two  to  six  feet  high,  and  its  narrow 
leaves,  which  are  sometimes  three  and  four  feet  long,  and  half  slen- 
der points.  The  entire  leaf,  except  the  margins,  is  smooth.  The 
straw-colored  spikes  are  from  two  to  three  inches  long,  and  from 
five  to  fourteen  in  number.  They  are  scattered  and  spreading.  A 
wide  berth  should  be  given  to  it. 

Triticum  — It  sometimes  happens  that  grasses  which  are  compar- 
atively worthless  in  one  regard  are  valuable  in  another.  This  may 
come  from  the  improved  quality  that  soil,  climate  and  situation  give. 
Several  species  of  Triticum  which  are  everywhere  regarded  as 
almost  worthless,  in  Central  and  Western  Nebraska  afford,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  season,  good  pasturage.  It  can  be  recognized  by  the 
character  of  the  glumes,  among  which  are  the  single  spikelets  at  each 
joint,  and  placed  with  the  side  against  the  axis  of  inflorescence. 
Several  species  of  Festuca  abound  in  portions  of  the  State,  and 
make  valuable  forage. 

Festuca  ovina,  L.,  is  the  most  valuable.  The  culms  and  leaves 
are  hard  and  wire-like,  but  exceedingly  nutritious.  The  panicle  is 
small  and  narrow,  and  the  spikelets  flat,  numerous,  and  from  two 
to  six  flowered.  This  grass  has  a  tendency  to  grow  in  dense  tufts, 
and  is  sometimes  of  a  purple  color.  The  stalks  grow  from  ten  to 
twenty-four  inches  high. 

Bromus  kalmii,  Gray. — This  grass  is  only  abundant  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  State,  although  it  is  occasionally  met  as  far  east  as 
the  Missouri.  It  is  a  perennial,  producing  a  simple  panicle,  with 
spikelets  drooping  from  simple  capillary  stems,  and  densely  covered 
with  silky  hairs.  These  are  sometimes  flat  and  sometimes  round, 
wThen  matured.  It  grows  from  one  to  three  feet  high,  and  affords 
good  forage.  Some  species  of  Poa  abound  in  Nebraska.  They 


WILD   GRASSES.  ]  !  3 

are  very  nutritious,  and  wherever  found  afford  rich  food  for  stock. 
Poa  serotina,  Ehrh,  is  perhaps  the  most  important.  It  may  be 
recognized  by  its  open  panicle,  which  branches  in  fives,  the  spike- 
lets  being  pediciled,  acute,  a  little  flattened,  and  from  two  to  four 
flowered.  The  flowers  are  acute,  green,  and  occasionally  tinged 
with  purple.  It  grows  from  two  to  three  feet  high. 

Poa  Pratensis,  L.,  is  not  native  to  the  State,  but  has  spread  from 
old  Fort  Calhoun,  north  of  Omaha,  where  it  was  probably  intro- 
duced many  years  ago  by  the  hay  which  the  Government  sent  to 
the  troops  at  this  point.  It  has  spread  from  this  place  over  twenty- 
five  miles  of  territory. 

Ihichloe  dactyloides,  Engl. — This  is  the  famous  buffalo  grass  which 
once  grew  over  the  whole  region  from  the  Missouri  to  the  moun- 
tains. It  is  so  well  known  that  it  scarcely  needs  any  description. 
It  rarely  exceeds  two  or  three  inches  in  height,  except  the  male 
flower  stalk,  which  may  reach  five  or  six  inches.  The  male  flowrers 
are  in  flat  spikes  on  the  top  of  the  stock.  The  seed-producing 
flowers  are  almost  covered  by  the  leaves  close  to  the  earth.  Both 
kinds  of  flowers  are  borne  by  the  same  plant,  though  the  contrary 
was  once  believed.  It  forms  dense  tufts,  spreading  by  stolens,  form- 
ing broad  mats.  Engleman  first  detected  the  true  botanical  rela- 
tions of  this  plant.  This  grass  has  always  been  a  favorite  with  all 
kinds  of  stock.  Often  when  camped  on  the  plains,  my  lariated 
horses  and  mules  would  touch  no  other  grasses  until  all  the  buffalo 
grass  within  their  reach  was  consumed.  This  always  occurred,  no 
matter  what  other  kinds  of  grass  were  present.  This  grass,  before 
the  advent  of  the  white  man,  was  the  chief  food  of  the  buffaloes, 
which,  in  countless  numbers,  occupied  the  plains.  It  will  be  found 
that  wherever  the  buffalo  grass  is  not  highly  valued,  it  is  confounded 
with  Munroa  squarrosa,  Torr.,  which  is  an  almost  worthless  species. 
It  bears  some  resemblance  to  buffalo  grass,  and  is  often  mistaken 
for  it.  But  it  is  an  annual  with  many  branches  from  the  base, 
creeping,  and  with  the  leaves  clustered  together.  Of  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  buffalo  grass,  and  my  theory  as  to  the  cause,  I  will 
have  something  to  say  presently. 

A  word  in  conclusion  as  to  the  way  to  perpetuate  prairie  pastures* 
A  complaint  often  heard  in  Nebraska  is  that  in  a  short  time  the 
best  of  prairie  grasses,  such  as  sorgum  nutans,  Andropogon  furcattis, 
etc.,  will,  under  severe  pasturing  and  mowing,  soon  be  exterminated, 
and  their  place  be  occupied  by  weeds.  Where  no  chance  is  given 
8 


114  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

to  the  prairie  grasses  to  recuperate,  this  is  undoubtedly  the  case. 
It  is  found,  however,  that  where  fields  of  the  best  wild  grasses  are 
inclosed,  and  only  mowed  when  mature,  they  will  remain  good 
meadows  for  many  years.  It  soon  kills  these  grasses  to  mow  them 
early  in  the  season,  when  or  before  they  are  in  flower.  I  have  fre- 
quently seen  tracts  of  land  inclosed  where  weeds  had  already  gained 
partial  possession,  and  by  leaving  them  lie  untouched  for  a  number  of 
years,  the  ground  would  again  become  thickly  matted  over  with 
these  rich  grasses.  With  a  little  care,  the  new  settler  in  Nebraska 
can  get  his  supply  of  hay  and  pasture  of  the  best  quality  from  the 
prairies  for  a  great  number  of  years.  He  can  be  supplied,  at  least, 
until  his  own  industry  and  advancement  will  prompt  him  to  raise  the 
cultivated  grasses.  Many  of  these  wild  grasses  deserve  to  be  experi- 
mented with.  They  have  done  so  much  to  enrich  the  West  already, 
that  their  cultivation,  if  possible,  would  be  a  great  agricultural  gain. 

DISAPPEARANCE  OF  BUFFALO  GRASS. 

Buffalo  grass  {Buchlce  dacty hides]  was  once  common  all  over 
Nebraska.  Other  species  were  present,  but  this  grass  was  more 
abundant  than  all  the  others  put  together.  It  has  now  almost  en- 
tirely disappeared  from  the  eastern  half  of  the  State.  Here  it  is 
now  found  only  in  isolated  spots,  which  sometimes  are  slight  de- 
pressions in  the  surface,  some  times  elevations,  and  sometimes  on 
a  level  with  the  plain.  In  examining  the  last  retreats  of  this  grass 
to  ascertain  the  cause  of  its  pertinacious  life  in  such  places,  I  inva- 
riably found  that  they  were  spots  where  the  excess  of  alkali  had 
entered  into  slight  chemical  union  with  the  other  ingredients  of 
the  soil,  and  more  or  less  hardened  it.  This  seems  to  indicate  that 
such  soils  wrould  be  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  this  grass  ;  but 
whether  this  is  the  case,  and  whether,  supposing  this  was  possible, 
it  is  worthy  of  cultivation,  remains  to  be  determined  by  actual  ex- 
periment. The  manner  and  the  cause  of  the  disappearance  of  this 
grass  is  exceedingly  curious.  It  cannot  be  caused  by  the  ingress 
of  domestic  cattle.  I  have  known  whole  counties  from  which  the 
buffalo  grass  disappeared  long  before  any  domestic  cattle  or  culti- 
vation had  interrupted  the  work  of  nature.  For  example,  I  vis- 
ited Wayne  County,  Nebraska,  for  the  first  time  in  1865,  when  as 
yet  there  was  not  a  single  wrhite  man  or  any  domestic  cattle  within 
its  bounds.  And  yet  the  buffalo  grass  wras  even  then  rapidly  disap- 
pearing, and  in  a  few  years  more  was  almost  entirely  gone.  Many 
other  instances  of  the  same  kind  could  be  given. 


WILD  GRASSES.  115 

Some  old  frontiersmen  claim  that  the  perpetuation  of  this  grass 
depends  on  its  seeds  being  scattered  by  the  buffaloes,  and  that 
when  they  ceased  to  visit  their  old  haunts  it  would  necessarily  have  to 
die  out.  But  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  the  foraging  of  domestic 
cattle  would  not  have  the  same  effect.  It  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the 
buffaloes'  manner  of  cropping  this  grass.  These  animals  some- 
times pastured  this  grass  more  closely  and  constantly  than  domestic 
cattle.  I  have  sometimes  followed  a  herd  of  a  few  thousand  buf- 
falo and  they  seemed  to  eat  the  short,  sparse  grass  in  places  almost 
out  of  the  ground,  leaving  almost  bare  soil  behind  them.  Causes 
with  which  neither  the  buffaloes  nor  domestic  cattle  have  anything 
to  do,  evidently  produce  its  extermination.  The  rate  of  its  disap- 
pearance varies  somewhat.  In  northern  Nebraska  it  retreated  west- 
ward at  the  rate  of  about  twenty  miles  a  year,  until  it  reached  its 
present  eastern  boundary.  Along  the  Republican  Valley,  during 
some  years,  it  has  retreated  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  a  year,  and 
other  grasses,  alreadv  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  took  its  place.  In 
other  years  it  has  retreated  more  slowly.  In  favored  localities  it 
lingers  behind  several  years  longer,  but  even  the  alkali  spots  finally 
give  it  up.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  grasses  that  take  its  place  are 
such  as  are  indigenous  to  comparatively  moist  regions.  I  suggest, 
therefore,  that  change  of  climate,  especially  increase  of  rainfall,  has 
most  to  do  with  this  phenomenon.  In  Chapter  IV  was  shown  the 
constantly  increasing  rainfall  in  the  Stitc.  It  is  the  only  fact  com- 
petent to  explain  all  the  phenomena  accompanying  the  disappear- 
ance of  this  grass  on  which  the  millions  of  buffalo,  elk,  deer  and 
•antelope  had  previously  fed  for  ages. 

ORIGIN  OF  OUR  FLORA. 

One  of  the  questions  that  most  frequently  occurs  to  the  thinking 
mind  is  when  and  how  did  our  Flora  originate?  Did  it  originate 
here,  or  did  it  come  by  migration  from  some  other  region: 

The  earliest  memorials  of  our  present  Flora  are  found  engraven 
on  the  rocks  of  the  lowest  member  of  the  cretaceous  rocks  of  the 
west,  known  as  the  Dakota  group*.  In  the  chapter  on  the  cre- 
taceous deposits,  the  geological  features  of  these  rocks  are  given. 
Here  are  found  impressions  of  the  first  oaks,  cottonwoods,  willows, 
maples,  gums,  hickories,  walnuts,  plums,  cedars,  pines,  grapes,  etc. 
The  formation  in  which  these  early  memorials  are  found,  stretches 


*See  Lisquereux,  Report  on  Cretaceous  Flora. 


116  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

through  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Northwestern  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Can- 
ada, and  is  found  to  appear  in  Greenland. 

At  the  opening  of  the  next,  or  Tertiary  Age,  in  its  lowest  mem- 
ber, the  Eocene,  it  makes  its  appearance  in  the  far  north  in  Green- 
land. Many  of  the  species  are  identical  with  those  now  common 
in  Nebraska.  It  is  true  that  Heer  pronounces  these  to  be  Miocene, 
but  Dawson  has  shown  them  to  be  of  Eocene  age.  (Report  on 
Geological  Survey  of  Canada.)  By  the  time  thai  the  Miocene 
age  commenced,  they  were  still  among  the  conspicuous  forms  in 
high  northern  latitudes.  They  emigrated  southward  with  the 
gradually  advancing  cold  of  the  Pliocene  Age,  and  when  the  Gla- 
cial Age  spread  its  mantle  of  ice  over  the  north,  they  found  a  re- 
treat in  the  southern  United  States  and  Mexico.  At  the  final  re- 
treat of  the  glaciers,  this  Flora  advanced  northward,  and  found  a 
home  in  central  North  America.  The  nearest  allies,  therefore,  of 
our  present  Flora  are  the  vegetable  forms  preserved  in  the  rocks  of 
the  Tertiary  Ages,  in  high  northern  latitudes.  All  life,  vegetable 
and  animal,  probably  commenced  far  north,  and  moved  southward. 
The  old  idea,  that  it  must  have  originated  in  tropical  regions,  has 
been  eliminated  from  scientific  belief  by  the  advance  of  knowledge. 
This  view  also  accords  best  with  what  is  known  of  the  history  of 
the  globe.  The  first  known  dry  land  was  in  high  northern  regions, 
Arctic  lands  first  became  cool  enough  to  sustain  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal life.  (Heer.)* 


*See  on  this  subject  Gray's  Forest  Geography  and  Archaeology,  Heer's  Flora  Fossilis  Arc- 
tica;  Dawson's  Reports  on  Canadian  Geology;  Saparta,  "Ancienne  Vegetation  Polairr*": 
Hooker's  Presidential  Address  to  the  Royal  Society. 


FAUNA    OF    NEBRASKA.  117 


CHAPTER    XI. 

FAUNA  OF  NEBRASKA.— VERTEBRATES. 

BUFFALO. — DEER  FAMILY. — CARNIVEROUS  ANIMALS. — INSECT  EATING 
ANIMALS. — BIRDS. — The  Leading  Varieties — REPTILES. — List  of  our  Reptiles. 
FISH  CULTURE. — List  of  Known  Nebraska  Fishes. 

BEFORE   the  advent  of  the  white  man,  Nebraska  was  a  par- 
adise for  wild  animals.     Game  of  many  kinds  was  amazingly 
abundant.     Even  the  Indian  could  not  keep  it  within  clue  limits;  it 
took  immense  numbers  of  the  carniverous  animals  to  do  this. 

MAMMALS. 

Here  was  the  empire  of  the  buffalo,  (Bos  Ameriiamts?)*  The 
early  settlers  and  the  old  freighters  across  the  plains  tell  wonderful 
stories  of  the  immense  herds  of  buffalo  which  they  so  often  en- 
countered. Had  I  not  myself,  years  ago,  found  large  herds  in  places 
where  there  are  now  flourishing  villages,  these  stories  would  appear 
like  exaggerations.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  days  of  the  buffalo 
are  numbered.  What  the  Indian  alone  could  not  accomplish,  has 
been  done  by  the  remorseless  war  made  on  the  buffalo  by  the  white 
man.  Now  he  is  rarely  found  within  the  State.  If  he  is  perpetu- 
ated it  will  be  done  by  domesticating  him.  Already  some  domesti- 
cated buffalo  are  found  among  the  cattle  herds  in  western  Nebraska. 
Whether  this  experiment  will  be  successful  cannot  yet  be  deter- 
mined. No  animal  deserves  to  be  perpetuated  more  than  the 
buffalo.  Buffalo  robes  are  among  the  most  important  of  commer- 
cial articles.  Who  has  not  been  made  comfortable  bv  one?  The 
buffalo  is  as  readily  tamed  as  the  ox,  and  can  be  reared  with  as 
little  difficulty.  He  is  exceedingly  hardy.  He  might  be  profitably 
reared  for  the  pecuniary  value  of  his  hide.  His  flesh,  which  is  con- 
sidered coarse,  would  no  doubt  be  refined  by  civilized  environment. 
Even  the  buffalo's  milk  is  a  fair  substitute  for  that  of  the  domestic 
cow.f 

.    "It  will  be  understood  tliat  1  only  follow  popular  usage  in  calling  this  ai-imal  a  buffalo.     It  i» 
*  bison.     No  true  buffalo  has  a  hump  on  his  back. 

|See  an  exhaustive  treatise  on  the  buffalo,  in  Hay  den's  Report  for  1875. 


118  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Next  to  the  buffalo,  the  elk  (Cervus  Canadensis)wa&the  largest 
and  finest  native  animal.  It  was  formerly  exceedingly  abundant 
and  is  still  often  found  in  the  northern  and  western  portions  of  the 
State.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  magnificent  herds  of  elk  that 
crossed  my  path  on  the  Niobrara  and  Elkhorn  in  1866  and  1867. 
Their  bulky  bodies,  huge  antlers,  and  numbers,  made  them  a  pic- 
ture never  to  be  forgotten. 

Four  species  of  deer  were  formerly  found  here,  and  two  of  them 
very  abundantly.  These  were  the  common  deer  (Cervus  Virgin- 
ianus),  the  white  tailed  deer  (C.  leucrus),  the  mule  deer  (C.  macro- 
//j),  and  the  blacktailed  deer  (C.  columblanus).  The  first  and  the 
last  of  this  list  were  the  most  abundant,  at  least  those  are  the  species 
that  I  have  most  frequently  seen  myself  roaming  the  prairies,  and 
whose  skins  most  frequently  found  their  way  to  the  traders.  The 
special  habitat  of  the  black  tailed  deer  was  north  Nebraska,  and 
especially  the  Niobrara  region. 

Next  to  the  buffalo  in  numbers  comes  the  Pronghorn  Antelope 
(Antilocapra  Americana],  It  was  formerly  common  to  meet  these 
on  the  prairie  in  herds  of  from  twenty  to  five  hundred.  Only  a 
few  years  ago  it  was  yet  common  to  meet  herds  of  hundreds  of 
these  beautiful  and  graceful  animals  in  central  and  western  Ne- 
braska. They  are  now  mostly  confined  to  the  northern  and  west- 
ern portions  of  the  State.  The  antelope  remains  abundant  after  the 
buffalo  and  elk  are  gone,  and  when  but  few  deer  remain,  and  yet 
the  last  of  them  disappear  before  the  deer  is  entirely  exter- 
minated from  a  district.  The  antelope  is  more  disposed  to  go  in 
herds  than  the  deer;  it  frequently  brings  forth  two  at  a  birth,  and 
while  buffalo,  elk  and  deer  last  they  are  often  passed  by,  by  fron- 
tiersmen. Their  natural  curiosity  makes  them  an  easy  prey.  It  is 
well  known  that  they  will  go  close  to  a  white  covered  wagon,  or 
to  a  rag  stuck  on  a  ramrod  in  the  ground,  to  ascertain  what  it  is, 
The  hunter,  concealed  in  the  grass,  or  behind  or  on  one  side  6f  his 
wagon,  easily  secures  one. 

Bears  have  probably  always  been  rare  in  the  State.  I  have  met 
but  one  in  all  mv  explorations  in  the  unsettled  portions.  That  one 
was  on  the  Niobrara,  and  a  black  one  {Ursus  Americanus}.  I  have 
also  been  reliably  informed  by  old  settlers  that  one  was  killed  in 
the  early  history  of  Otoe  County,  on  the  Missouri  bottom.  I  have 
been  told  by  Indians  that  the  cinnamon  bear  was  formerly  occasion- 
ally found  on  the  Niobrara,  but  I  regard  this  as  doubtful. 


FAUNA    OF    NEBRASKA.  119 

Two  raccoons  are  common. in  Nebraska,  namely,  the  common 
raccoon  (Procyon  loter),  and  the  black-footed  raccoon  (P.  ffernan- 
dezzii].  The  former  is  the  most  abundant. 

The  Carnivora  are  well  represented.  The  Panther  (Felts  con- 
color},  is  the  largest,  or  at  least  the  most  powerful.  I  have  only 
seen  it  a  few  times  on  the  Niobrara  and  the  Loup. 

The  Wildcat  (Lynx  rufus),  is  comparatively  common  in  the  wooded 
sections  of  the  State.  At  rare  intervals  specimens  of  the  Red 
Wildcat  (L.fasciatus]  are  taken  in  north  Nebraska.  The  common 
Canada  Lynx  (Lynx  Canadensis],  is  widely  distributed  over  the 
State,  but  few  of  them  have  been  captured. 

Several  varieties  of  the  timber  wolf  formerly  were  common  in 
the  State,  but  are  now  rarely  heard  of.  The  varieties  were  Canus 
occidentalls^  Var.  nubilus  and  the  White  Wolf  (C.  occidentalism 
Var.  griseo-albus}.  I  have  several  times  found  this  latter  species 
lingering  on  the  flanks  of  herds  of  buffalo,  apparently  on  the  look- 
out for  any  old  animal  that  could  not  keep  up  with  the  herd,  or  was 
unable  to  defend  itself. 

The  Coyote,  or  Prairie  Wolf  (Canis  latrans^)  was  formerly 
exceedingly  abundant.  When  on  exploring  expeditions  in  unsettled 
sections,  trie  cooking  of  supper  would  invariably  bring  them 
around  us  through  the  night.  They  never  venture  to  make  an  at- 
tack under  such  circumstances.  I  doubt  whether  a  man  is  ever  in 
danger  from  them.  Settlers  have  destroyed  so  many  by  poison 
that  they  are  now  rare  in  the  oldest  portions  of  the  State.  A  few, 
however,  linger  on  even  here. 

Foxes  have  here  disappeared  more  completely  than  the  wolves. 
Formerly  the  Prairie  Fox  (Vulpes  macrourus)  was  comparatively 
abundant,  but  is  now  rarely  seen.  The  Swift  (V.  velox),  however, 
yet  holds  his  own  in  central  and  western  Nebraska.  The  Gray 
P^ox  (  V.  Virginianus),  was  never  abundant.  The  only  specimens  that 
I  saw  were  in  Pierce  County,  in  1869. 

A  few  specimens  of  the  American  Sable  (Mustela  Americana] 
have  been  taken  in  northwestern  Nebraska,  but  their  presence  within 
our  borders  is  rare.  The  weasels,  however,  are  abundant,  there 
being  at  least  seven  species  within  the  State.  The  most  abundant 
are  the  Common  Weasel  (Putorius  noveboracensis),  the  Long  Tailed 
Weasel  (P.  longicauda)  and  the  common  Mink  (P.  visori).  Those 
less  frequently  seen  are  the  Least  Weasel  (P.  pusillus},  the  Small 
Brown  Weasel  (P.  cigognanii),  the  Little  Black  Mink  (P.  nigrescent), 
and  the  Black  Footed  Ferret  (P.  nignpas.}  • 


120  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

The  Wolverine  (Guleo  luscus)  is  yet  found  in  central  and  western 
Nebraska,  but  it  has  never  been  abundant.  The  American  Otter 
(Lufra  Canadensis)  is  found  more  or  less  abundantly  in  all  the  rivers 
of  Nebraska. 

As  would  be  expected,  the  Skunks  are  also  here.  Two  species 
are  common,  namely,  Mephitis  mephitica  and  M.  occidentalis.  The 
American  Badger  ( Taxidea  Americana]  was  formerly  common  all 
over  the  State.  The  advance  of  settlements  has  almost  exterminated 
it  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  State. 

Rodents  are  common  here  as  elsewhere,  but  I  am  less  confident 
as  to  the  accuracy  of  my  list.  Many  more  must  remain  to  be  added 
to  it  when  the  State  is  once  thoroughly  examined  with  reference  to 
this  point. 

Among  the  Rodents  (gnawers),  the  squirrel  family  (sciuridae]  are 
well  represented  by  at  least  ten  species.  Among  these  are  the 
Western  Fox  Squirrel  (Sciurus  ludovicianus^  the  Gray  and  Black 
Squirrel  (S.  Carolinensis)  and  occasionally,  in  northern  Nebraska, 
the  Pine  Squirrel  (S.  Hudsonicusl)  Even  the  Flying  Squirrel 
(Pttromys  volucella]  is  sometimes  found  on  the  timbered  bottoms  of 
the  Missouri.  The  Chipmuck  (Tamias  striatus)  is  rare,  but  the 
Missouri  Striped  Squirrel  (T.  quadrivittatus]  is  common/>ver  a  large 
part  of  the  State.  Say's  Squirrel  (Spermaphilus  laterahs)  is  abun- 
dant in  some  localities,  and  the  Striped  Prairie  Squirrel  (S.  triaeccm- 
Uneatus,  is  abundant  all  over  the  State.  The  Gray  Gopher  (S.  Frank- 
lint]^  which  is  classed  in  this  section,  is  common  ontheprairies. 

Two  species  of  Prairie  Dogs  formerly  disputed  between  them 
the  territory  of  western  Nebraska.  One  of  them  (Cynomys  lu- 
dovicianus)  formerly  lived  in  villages  over  the  whole  length  of 
the  State,  from  the  Missouri  to  its  western  limits.  It  is  now  mostly 
confined  to  central  and  western  Nebraska.  Many  thousands  collect 
together  in  these  villages.  The  other  species  (C.  Gunnisonii). 
sometimes  called  Short  Tailed  Prairie  Dog,  is  now  only  met  in 
western  Nebraska. 

Two  species  of  Woodchuck  were  formerly  rather  common  in 
Nebraska.  The  common  Woodchuck  (Arctomys  monax),  is  found 
at  long  intervals.  The  Yellow  Footed  Marmot  (A.  jlaviventer). 
probably  only  found  on  the  Niobrara.  I  never  saw  it  alive,  but 
met  trappers  who  had  skins  of  it  obtained  in  that  locality. 

The  Beaver  (Castor  Canadensis),  was  until  recently  common 
on  all  the  streams  of  Nebraska.  Even  on  the  larger  streams,  like 


FAUNA    OF    NEBRASKA.  121 

the  Platte,  the  Missouri  and  the  Republican,  where  they  could  not 
build  -dams,  they  constructed  excavated  houses  in  the  banks. 
Sections  of  trunks  of  cottonwood  are  yet  found  along  these  rivers, 
from  eight  to  fourteen  inches  in  diameter,  which  were  gnawed  off 
by  beavers.  They  are  now  mostly  confined  to  western  and  north- 
ern Nebraska,  though  a  few  linger  on  most  of  the  streams  of  the 
State.  The  value  and  beauty  of  its  fur  causes  a  constant  war  to 
be  waged  against  it  by  Indian  and  white  man. 

Of  the  Gophers,  the  Pouched  Gopher  (Geomys  bursarins),  is  the 
most  common,  being  found  all  over  the  State.  The  Short-headed 
Gopher  (G.  breviceps],  is  only  rarely  found  in  south  Nebraska. 

The  Northern  Pocket  Gopher,  (Themomys  talpoides),  whose 
habitat  is  placed  far  north  by  Coues  and  Allen,  I  found  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Niobrara  in  north  Nebraska. 

The  Kangaroo  Rat  (Dipodomys  ordi^  occurs  in  western  and 
northern  Nebraska  on  the  Loup  and  Niobrara. 

A  rodent  for  which  I  know  no  popular  name,  but  related  to  the 
above  is  rather  common  over  western  and  central  Nebraska.  It  is 
known  among  naturalists  as  Perognathus  fasdatus.  It  is,  without 
the  tail,  four  inches  long  and  mouse  like. 

The  Yellow  Pocket  Mouse  (Cricetedipus  flavus),  smaller  than  the 
house  mouse  is  also  common  over  central  and  western  Nebraska. 

The  Wood  Rat  (Neotoma  Floridana),  is  a  native  of  Nebraska, 
but  is  only  met  with  at  long  intervals. 

The  Bushy  Tailed  Wood  Rat  (/V.  cinerd],  only  occurs  on  the 
Niobrara.  At  least  that  is  the  only  section  from  which  I  have 
obtained  or  heard  of  it. 

The  White  Footed  Mouse  (Hesperomys  leucopus),  is  frequently 
found  in  almost  every  county  in  the  State. 

Another  rodent  (H.  sonariensis],  closely  related  to  the  above,  is 
still  more  abundant.  It  has  a  shorter  tail  and  lighter  color  than 
the  preceding. 

The  Michigan  Mouse  (ff.  Michiganensis),  found  sparingly  all 
over  Nebraska.  The  Missouri  Mole  Mouse  (If.  leucogasfer),  is 
quoted  as  abundant  in  Nebraska  by  Coues  and  Allen,  but  I  have 
found  only  one  specimen  here. 

The  Little  Harvest  Mouse  (Ochetodon  humilis),  is  common  south 
of  the  Platte,  but  rare  north  of  that  river. 

The  Common  American  Meadow  Mouse  (Avicola  riparius),  is 
sparingly  represented  on  the  prairies  of  the  State.  The  Prairie 


122  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

Meadow  Mouse  (A.  austerus],  is  rather  abundant  over  the  State, 
both  on  high  bottoms  and  uplands.  Still  more  abundant  every- 
where is  the  Western  Prairie  MeadoAv  Mouse  (A.  curtatus}.  The 
Pine  Mouse  (A. pinetarutri),  occasionally  occurs  along  the  Missouri. 

The  Jumping  Mouse  (Zapus  H'tdsonius],  is  found  only  in  the 
wooded  portions  of  Nebraska.  At  least  I  have  never  met  it  any- 
where on  the  prairies. 

The  Musk  Rat  is  found  in  almost  every  stream  of  the  State, 
and  though  much  reduced  in  numbers  by  trapping  still  holds  its  own. 

The  Porcupine  is  present  in  the  State  in  small  numbers.  It  is 
the  Yellow  Haired  Variety  {Erethizon  epixanthus}. 

The  Hares  are  well  represented  in  Nebraska.  The  Prairie  Hare 
(Lepus  campestris),  is  found  in  central  and  western  Nebraska.  The 
Varying  Hare  (L.  Americanus),  in  some  of  its  varieties,  is  common 
in  the  State.  The  Gray  Rabbit  (L.  sylvaticus),  is  still  more  abundant 
than  the  former.  The  Jackass  Hare  (Z.  caltotis}^  is  abundant  in 
western  and  central  Nebraska,  and  more  sparingly  as  for  east  as 
the  Missouri.  I  have  captured  specimens  within  a  mile  of  the  Mis- 
souri bottom.  Cones  and  Allen  give  its  habitat  here  only  as  west- 
ern Nebraska.* 

The  Insectivara  are  represented  by  only  a  few  species.  Five  of 
these  are  shrews,  belonging  to  one  genus,  namely,  Sorex  pachvurus, 
S.  richa,  S.  Cooperi,  S.  Haydeni  and  S.  Hoyi.  I  have  not  ascertained 
their  relative  abundance.  Another  genus  of  shrews  (Blarina)  is 
represented  by  three  species,  namely,  B.  talpoides,  B.  brevicauda  and 
B.  exilipes.  B.  brevicauda  is  the  most  common  and  abundant,  being 
found  almost  everywhere  in  the  State. 

The  Moles  are  more  abundant  in  individuals.  One  of  them 
(Scallops  Argentatus)  is  abundant  everywhere.  Two  others  are 
rare,  namely,  Condylura  cristata  and  Uratrichus  gibbsii. 

One  Marsupial  is  rather  common  in  the  wooded  portion  of  the 
State.  It  is  the  common  Possum  {Didelphis  Virginiana^] 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  seen  that  at  least  eighty-two  species  of 
mammals  are  native  to  Nebraska. 

BIRDS. 

The  bird  Fauna  of  Nebraska  is  remarkably  developed.  It  is 
particularly  rich  in  genera,  of  which  there  are  at  least  one  hundred 
and  fifty-six  in  the  State.  The  species  amount  to  at  least  two  hun- 


*For  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  Rodents,  see  "  Cones'  aud  Allen's  Monographs  of  North 
American  Rodentia." 


FAUNA    OF   NEBRASKA.  123 

dred  and  forty-nine.*  At  least,  that  is  the  number  whose  eating- 
habits  I  have  studied  and  described  in  a  former  publication.  Since 
the  publication  of  that  work,  nearly  a  dozen  additional  species  have 
come  to  light  within  our  territory.  The  fullest  order  is  that  of  the 
Perchers  (Passeres),  of  which  there  are  eighty  genera  and  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  species.  Among  these,  the  Singing  Birds 
(Oscines)  are  represented  by  sixty-nine  genera  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  species.  The  next  division  of  this  order,  the  Clama- 
tores,  are  not  so  abundant,  there  being  only  eleven  genera  and  four- 
teen species. 

At  the  head  of  the  Singing  birds  stands,  of  course,  the  glorious 
Robin,  \vhich  is  becoming  more  abundant  each  year.  Four  addi- 
tional species  of  Thrush  are  here.  The  Mocking  Bird  is  sparingly 
represented  in  south  Nebraska,  and  the  Cat  Bird  generally  along 
the  timber  belts  of  water  courses  all  over  the  State.  In  places  the 
Sandy  Mocking  Bird  is  abundant.  The  common  Blue  Bird  is  in 
every  community.  The  Western  Blue  Bird,  formerly  rare,  is  in- 
creasing in  many  places.  Eight  species  of  Wren,  led  off  by  the 
House  Wren,  abound.  The  Blue-eyed  Warbler  is  common  in  all 
sections,  but  the  Cserulean  Warbler  only  along  the  wooded  bottoms. 
This  genus  (Dendraecd)  of  warblers  is  represented  by  fourteen 
species,  some  of  which  are  only  here  during  their  migrations.  One 
of  them  (D.  disco/or)  is  very  abundant,  and  breeds  here.  Of  the 
Thrushes,  the  Golden-Crowned  is  the  most  abundant,  #nd  breeds 
within  the  State.  One  of  the  commonest  birds  is  the  Maryland 
Yellow  Throat,  and  is  on  the  increase  in  all  parts  of  the  State. 
Over  the  greater  part  of  the  State  the  Yellow  Brested  Chat  is 
found.  Six  species  of  Swallow  make  their  summer  residence  here. 
The  most  abundant  is  the  Cliff  Swallow.  Its  special  home  is  in 
northeastern  Nebraska.  On  one  chalk  cliff,  east  of  the  town  of 
Niobrara,  I  counted  twenty-one  hundred  nests  which  were  made  by 
this  bird.  There  were  other  points  near  by  where  there  were 
almost  as  many.  The  purple  Martin  is  also  common,  and  breeds 
here. 

The  vireos  are  represented  by  seven  species,  the  most  abundant 
of  which  is  the  Red-eyed  Vireo,  which  can  always  be  found  in 
summer  in  the  timber  belts  along  the  Missouri  and  other  rivers. 
The  Butcher  Bird  (Collurio  borealis],  which  was  formerly  rare,  is 


*See  the  writer's  fannal  list  and  Natural   Food  of  Birds,  published   in  Report  of  U.  S.  En- 
tomological Commissions  for  1878. 


124  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

now  becoming;  abundant.  Its  old  habit  of  impaling  insects  and 
small  reptiles  on  thorns,  is  perpetuated  here.  The  American  Gold 
Finch,  or  Yellow  Bird  (C.  cristatus],  is  a  regular  summer  visitant. 
The  buntings  make  things  lively  in  winter.  Five  species  come  to 
Nebraska  during  this  season.  Among  these,  the  Snow  Bunting 
(Ptectrophanes  nivalis]  is  the  most  common.  The  Chestnut-collared 
Bunting  is  scarcely  less  common,  and  breeds  here.  Ten  species,  at 
least,  of  sparrows  come  to  Nebraska,  some  of  which  are  only 
present  during  their  migrations.  One  of  the  most  abundant  is  the 
Yellow-winged  Sparrow.  Great  numbers  of  Lincoln's  Sparrows 
pass  through  Nebraska  on  their  migrations.  The  Long  Sparrow 
is  becoming  more  abundant  each  year,  but  the  Tree  Sparrow  is  only 
present  in  winter.  The  Chipping,  Clay-colored  and  White- 
throated  Sparrow  are  all  rather  common. 

The  Cardinal  Grosbeak  (Cardlnalis  Virginianus},  is  common 
in  southern  Nebraska.  This  beautiful  bird  so  much  admired  as  a 
caged  pet,  is  rapidly  on  the  increase.  One  owned  by  Mrs.  Chap- 
man in  Plattsmouth,  often  wants  to  share  half  its  worm  or  insect 
with  its  mistress. 

The  American  Starlings  are  represented  by  many  species.  Among 
the  most  common  are  the  Bobolink,  Cow-Blackbird,  Red-winged 
Blackbird,  and  Yellow-headed  Blackbird.  All  these  are  very 
abundant. 

One  of  the  most  abundant  as  well  as  most  popular  of  Nebraska 
birds  is  the  Meadow  Lark.  Its  magnificent  song  in  spring  can  be 
heard  in  all  parts  of  the  State  and  cheers  every  heart. 

The  orioles  are  becoming  more  abundant  each  year.  The  Balti- 
more and  Orchard  Oriole  are  especially  becoming  common.  The 
Grackles  are  also  here  in  large  numbers,  particularly  Brewers  and 
the  Crow-Blackbird.  The  crow  family  is  most  largely  represented, 
as  elsewhere,  by  the  Common  Crow,  though  the  Magpie  is  found 
in  northern  and  western  Nebraska.  The  Blue  Jay  is  unfortunately 
found  in  places  in  large  numbers.  It  is  well  known  that  it  is 
destructive  to  the  eggs  and  young  of  other  birds,  and  should  there- 
fore be  kept  reduced  in  numbers  by  being  made  a  target  for 
sportsmen. 

The  Fly  Catchers  are  well  represented  by  eleven  species.  The 
King  Bird  is  one  of  the  most  common.  The  Arkansas  Fly  Catcher 
is  common  only  along  wooded  streams.  The  Least  Fly  Catcher 
is  the  most  abundant,  being  found  in  almost  every  part  of  the  State. 


FAUNA    OF    NEBRASKA.  125 

The  Plccarlan  Birds  are  represented  by  eleven  genera  and 
fifteen  species.  Among  these  are  the  common  Whippoorwill,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  and  Nuttall's  Whippoorwill  in  central 
and  western  Nebraska.  The  Night-Hawk  (Chordciles  Virgini- 
anus}  is  common  and  breeds  here.  The  Chimney  Swallow  is 
abundant  in  the  older  settlements  of  the  State.  The  Humming 
Birds  are  represented  by  two  species.  The  Belted  King- Fisher 
is  most  frequently  seen  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  Seven 
woodpeckers  are  at  home  in  the  State.  The  Hairy,  Yellow-bellied 
and  Red-headed  Woodpeckers  are  the  most  abundant.  The  latter 
is  rapidly  on  the  increase. 

Birds  of  Prey  are  here  in  large  numbers,  though  only  a  few 
that  live  exclusively  on  other  birds.  Among  these  is  the  Barn 
Owl  which  lives  on  insects.  The  Snowy  Owl  is  here  in  winter. 
The  Burrowing  Owl  so  abundant  in  western  and  central  Nebraska 
is  a  very  large  destroyer  of  insects,  mice,  and  small  reptiles.  The 
Swallow-tailed  Hawk,  the  most  beautiful  air  sailer  in  America^ 
feeds  almost  exclusively  on  insects.  It  is  sparingly  represented  all 
over  the  State.  The  Pigeon  Hawk  and  Coopers  Hawk  are  unfor- 
tunately abundant  all  over  the  State.  The  American  Merlin  and 
Sparrow  HawTk  and  Hen  Hawk  are  common.  Smainson's  Buzzard 
is  onlv  abundant  along  timbered  streams  of  water.  The  Golden 
and  Bald  Eagle  are  both  occasionally  seen  in  Nebraska,  especially 
the  latter,  which  has  been  known  to  breed  here. 

The  Pigeons  are  very  sparsely  represented  here,  there-being  but 
two  genera  and  two  species.  The  wild  Pigeons  are  abundant 
during  some  years.  The  common  dove  is  very  abundant  all  over 
the  State. 

Gallinaceous  Birds  are  represented  by  only  six  genera  and  as 
many  species.  The  Wild  Turkey  was  formerly  exceedingly  abun- 
dant in  all  the  woodlands  of  the  State  but  is  now  much  reduced  in 
numbers.  The  Sharp-tailed  Grouse  has  been  reduced  to  a  small 
number.  The  Prarie  Chicken  was  once  very  abundant  in  Nebraska. 
Hunting  them  with  dogs  now  keeps  their  numbers  very  much 
reduced.  Quails  are  very  abundant  during  some  years.  They  are 
common  over  the  greater  part  of  the  State. 

The  Wading  Birds  are  represented  here  by  twenty-six  genera 
and  thirty-seven  species.  Among  these,  the  King  Plover  is  abun- 
dant during  its  spring  and  fall  migrations.  The  Piping  and  Moun- 
tain Plover  are  also  common.  Wilson's  Phalerope  is  only  common 


126  PHYSICAL    GEOGKAPHY. 

in  eastern  Nebraska.  Wilson's  and  the  Gray  Snipe  are  abundant 
during  the  migrating  seasons.  The  Least  and  Baird's  Sandpiper 
are  also  common  during  their  migrations.  The  great  Marbled 
Godwit  breeds  in  the  State.  The  greater  and  lesser  Tattler  abound 
here  along  rivers  and  creeks.  The  Wood  Tattler  occasionally 
breeds  here.  The  most  abundant  of  the  tattlers  is  the  Barlraniian 
or  Upland  Plover.  It  is  very  abundant  during  its  migrations  and 
many  remain  to  breed.  The  Long-billed  Curlew  was  formerly 
very  abundant  and  still  is  in  the  new  sections  of  the  State.  Gun- 
ners easily  frighten  it  away  and  the  following  season  it  rarely  returns. 

The  Great  Blue  Heron  comes  occasionally  to  our  rivers.  The 
White  Heron,  Snowy  Heron  and  American  Bittern  are  rare  in  the 
State. 

The  Whooping  and  Sand  Hill  Crane  are  "both  in  Nebraska,  and 
the  latter  quite  abundantly.  The  three  species  of  rail  in  the  State 
occur  at  long  intervals.  The  American  Coot,  or  Mud  Hen,  is  often 
met  in  the  State,  and  is  remarkable  for  feeding  on  insects  and  mol- 
lusks. 

The  Anserine  Birds,  to  which  the  swans,  geese  and  ducks  belong, 
are  fully  represented  in  the  State.  Ten  genera  and  at  least  twelve 
species  have  been  noted  in  my  previous  publications,  and  since  then 
several  more  species  have  come  to  light.  The  Trumpeter  Swan  is 
here,  but  very  rare.  The  White  Brant  is  very  abundant  during  its 
migrations.  The  common  Wild  Goose  is  equally  common  at  these 
seasons. 

The  Mallard  was  formerly  exceedingly  common  in  the  State 
during  its  migrations,  but  is  now  much  less  so,  owing  no  doubt  to 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  hunted  down.  Many  formerly  brought 
forth  their  young  in  northern  Nebraska.  The  Green-winged  Teal 
is  also  abundant  during  its  migrations.  The  Blue-winged  Teal 
and  Shoveller  are  rarer  than  the  preceding.  The  Wood  Duck  is 
common  in  some  years,  and  breeds  in  north  Nebraska.  The  Butter 
Ball  and  Ruddy  Duck  are  common  along  the  Missouri  and  on  its 
tributaries  for  a  short  distance. 

Of  the  Totipalmate  Birds,  only  two  species  of  Pelican  visit  the 
State. 

Of  the  Long-winded  Swimmers,  there  are  four  genera  and  ten 
species,  one  of  which  I  found  since  my  previous  list  was  published. 
Of  the  Gulls,  the  Ring-billed  and  Franklin's  Rosy  Gull  are  the 
most  common  during  the  migrating  season.  Of  the  Terns,  the 


FAUNA    OP    NEBRASKA.  127 

Least  Tern  and  Black  Tern  are  the  most  abundant.  They  breed 
in  Nebraska. 

The  Diving  Birds  are  represented  in  the  State  by  only  one 
species,  namely,  the  American-eared  Grebe.  It  is  particularly  abun- 
dant on  the  Platte  and  the  Missouri. 

This  brief  sketch  will,  I  trust,  give  some  idea  of  the  affluence  of 
bird  life  in  Nebraska.  I  have  in  another  work,  already  alluded  to,* 
shown  how  highly  insectiverous  the  most  of  our  birds  are,  and 
what  vast  millions  of  insects  they  destroy.  Bird  life  is  the  poetry 
of  animal  life.  Every  sentiment  of  admiration  for  exquisite  beauty, 
for  the  charm  of  song,  for  utility,  and  abhorrence  for  the  infliction 
of  needless  suffering,  calls  on  cultivated  and  refined  natures  to 
protest  against  the  needless  destruction  of  birds. 

REPTILES. 

Owing  to  the  large  amount  of  time  devoted  to  the  other  depart- 
ments of  our  natural  history,  I  have  been  unable  to  do  much  with 
our  reptiles  and  fishes.  The  following  is  therefore  only  a  partial 
list  of  such  as  I  have  found  in  the  State : 

Soft  Shelled  Turtle  (Trionyx  ferox).     Missouri. 

Snapping  Turtle  (Chelonoura  serpentina).     In  most  of  our  rivers. 

Painted  Tortoise  (Emys  pi  eta].     Missouri  and  Platte  rivers. 

Painted  Tortoise  (Emys guttata).     Widely  dispersed. 

Wood  Terrapin  (Emys  insculpta).     Widely  dispersed. 

Geographic  Tortoise  (Emys  geographicd).     Common. 

Pseudo  graphic  Tortoise  (Emys  pseudo  graphicd).     Rare. 

Mud  Tortoise  (Kinosternon  Pennsylvanicwri).     Rare. 

Musk  Tortoise  (Sternothacrus  odoratus).  Have  seen  but  one  in 
the  State. 

Common  Box  Tortoise  (Cistuda  Carolina).     Common. 

Blanding's  Box  Tortoise  (Gistuda  Blandingii}.     Rare. 

SAURIANS. 

Blue  Tailed  Skink  (Suncus  fasciatus).     Rare. 
Fine-lined  Lizard  (Lygosoma  quinquelineatus}.     Rare. 
Horned  Toad  (Phrynosoma  carnutd).     West  Nebraska. 
Brown  Swift  (Tropidolopis  undulatus}.     Niobrara  region. 
Chiroter  lumbricoides.     Southeast  Nebraska. 
Glass  Snake  (Opiosaurus  ventralis].     South  Nebraska. 


*N»tural  Food  of  Birds. 


128  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

SNAKES. 

Black  Snake  {Coluber  constrictor.}     Common. 

Pilot  Blacksnake  Racer  {Coluber  Allegheniensis].     Rare. 

Milk  Snake.  House  Snake  {Coluber  eximius).  Seen  occasion- 
ally. 

Ring  Snake  {Coluber  punctatu*s}.     Seen  at  long  intervals. 

Grass  Snake  Coluber  vernalis}.     Rare. 

Coluber  testaceus.     West  Nebraska. 

Water  Snake  {Trophidonotus  sipeciori).     Seen  at  long  intervals. 

Striped  Snake.     Garter  Snake  {Trophidonotus  taenia}.     Rare. 

Yellow  Bellied  Snake  {Ttopkidonotus  leberis].     South  Nebraska^ 

Small  Brown  Snake  {Tropkidonotus  DeKayi}.  Some  seasons 
rather  abundant. 

Little  Garter  Snake.  Ribbon  Snake  {Leptophis  saurita].  Rare. 
Only  in  timber. 

Bull  Snake  {Pituophis  melanoleucas\     Common. 

Northern  Rattlesnake.  Yellow  Rattlesnake  {Crotalus  durissus)~ 
Sparingly.  Most  abundant  in  North  Nebraska. 

Michigan  Rattlesnake  {Crotalophorus  miliarius).     Rare. 

Western  Rattlesnake  {Crotalophorus  tergeminus).     Rare. 

Massasaugua.  Prairie  Rattlesnake  {Crotalophorus  Kirtlandt]. 
Now  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the  preceding.  Formerly  abun- 
dant.* 

Harlequin  Snake  {Elaps  fulvius).     Rare. 

AMPHIBIANS. 

Bullfrog  {Rana pipiens).     Common. 

Northern  Bullfrog  {Rana  hariconensis].     Rare. 

Spring  Frog-  {Rana  fontinalis).  Rather  numerous  in  favorite 
localities. 

Marsh  Frog.  Leopard  Frog  {Rana  palustris).  Common  and 
abundant. 

Shad  Frog.     Lopard  Frog  {Rana  kalecina).     Common. 

Wood  Frog  {Rana  sylvaticd}.  Common  in  timber  along  the 
Missouri. 

Common  Toad  {Bufo  Americanus).     Common. 

Missouri  Toad  {Bufo  cognathus].     Occasional. 

Northern  Tree  Toad  {Hyla  versicolor).     Along  the  Missouri. 


*For  the  use  of  the  rattles  of  the  Rattlesnake,  see  the  writer's  paper,  published  in  the 
'American  Naturalist,"  Feb. ,1872. 


FAUNA    OF    NEBRASKA.  •  129 

TAILED  BATRACHIANS. 

Yellow-bellied  Salamander  (Salamandra  fymmetrtca).  Occa- 
sional. 

Violet-colored  Salamander  {Salamandra  subviolaced].  Rather 
common. 

Blotched  Salamander  (Salamandra  fasciata).     Common. 

Long-tailed  Salamander  (Salamandra  longicaudd].  On  the  Ni- 
obrara. 

Striped-back  Salamander  (Salamandra  bilineata).     Rare. 

Red  Salamander  (Salamandra  rubrd).     South  Nebraska.    Rare. 

Blue-spotted  Salamander  (Salamandra  glutinosa}.     Rare. 

Banded  Proteus  (Menobranchus  latter  alls].     Rare. 

Allegheny  Hell-bender  (Manapoma  Allcghcniensis}.  Occa- 
sional. 

FISHES. 

The  following  list  of  our  fishes  includes  only  the  few  that  I  have 
identified.  For  reasons  already  stated,  I  could  not  devote  myself 
to  a  special  investigation  of  our  fish  fauna.  One-half  of  our  species 
are  not  included  in  this  list. 

The  waters  of  Nebraska  are  eminently  adapted. to  the  artificial 
propagation  of  fish.  Even  the  trout  can  be  successfully  reared  in 
many  of  our  streams,  especially  in  some  like  the  Bows,  in  north 
Nebraski.  These  Bow  Rivers  are  largely  made  up  of  the  most 
delicious  springs  along  the  greater  length  of  their  course,  and  where 
these  are  most  abundant  never  freeze  over  in  winter.  The  Bazile 
is  equally  well  adapted  to  this  industry.  There  are  also  many  kinds 
that  will  flourish  in  the  Elkhorn  and  its  tributaries,  the  Nemahas 
and  their  tributaries,  and  the  Blues  and  Loups  and  their  tributaries. 
There  are  other  rivers  and  their  tributaries  that  could  be  stocked 
equally  well  with  choice  fish. 

BONY    FISHES. 

Many-lined  Bass  (Labrax  multilinealns}.     Missouri  River. 

Pike  Perch  (Leuciaperea  griscd).  Occasionally  found  in  the 
Missouri. 

The  Growler  (Grystes  salmoides}.  Rare.  Missouri  and  Ne- 
maha. 

Black  Bass  (Centrarchus fasciatus).     Elkhorn,  Logan,  etc. 

Centrarchus  pent  acanthus.     Nemaha.     Rare. 

Pond  Fish  (Pomotis  vulgaris).  Common  in  most  of  our  streams. 

9 


130  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

Three  additional  species  of  Pond  Fish  (Pomotis)   not  identified. 

Lake  Catfish  (Pimeloidus  nigricarts}.     Missouri,  Platte. 

Common  Catfish  (Pimeloidus  cattis}.     Common. 

Forked  Tail  Catfish  (Pimeloidus  furcatus).     Missouri. 

Brazen  Catfish  Pimeloidus  deneus).     Platte  and  Elkhorn. 

Blue  Catfish  (Pimeloidus  celurescens.)  Missouri,  Republican,  Ne- 
maha,  Elkhorn. 

Yellow  Catfish  (Pimeloidus  cupreus}.  Probably  same  as  Brazen 
Catfish  above. 

Channel  Catfish  {Pimeloidus  -pallidus).  Missouri,  Platte,  Blue, 
Elkhorn,  etc. 

Mud  Catfish  {Pimeloidus  nebufasus).     Common. 

Black  Bullhead  (Pimeloidus  xanthocephalus}.  Missouri  and  Nio- 
brara. 

Four  additional  species  of  catfish  I  failed  to  identify. 

Chubsucker  {Labeo ).     Only  occasionally  seen. 

Sucker  {Catast»mus ).     Missouri. 

Black  Buffalo  Fish  (Catastomus  elongatd].     Common. 

Shiner  (Stilbe  chrysoleucas).     Platte,  Missouri. 

Black- nosed  Dace  (Lends cus  abronascus).     Same  as  above. 

Vermillion-eyed  Dace  (Lenciscus  bigutlatus).  Platte,  Bow,  Blue, 
Elkhorn,  etc. 

Chubb  Big  Head  (Lencisctis  cephalus).     Bow  Rivers. 

Minnow  (Hydrargira ).     Common. 

Muskallonge  (Esox  ester].     Missouri.     Rare. 

Common  Pickerel  (Esox  reticulatus].     In  most  of  our  streams. 

Missouri  Trout  (Salmo  Lewisi).  I  caught  one  in  the  Bow  and 
one  in  the  Iowa  Creek,  in  Dixon  County.  Probably  wandered 
down  from  the  upper  Missouri. 

Gar  Pike  (Lepidosteus ).     Common. 

Western  Mud  Fish  (Amia  occidentalism.     Rare. 

Common  Eel  (Anguilia  tenuirosttis).     Elkhorn  River.     Rare. 
CARTILAGINOUS  FISHES. 

Sturgeon  (Aeiphensex  maculosus).     Missouri.     Rare. 

Lamprey  (Pteromyzon ).     Elkhorn.     Rare. 


INSECT    LIFE.  131 


CHAPTER  XII. 

INSECT  LIFE. 

Number  of  Species. — Predatory  species.— Chinch  Bug.— Army  Worm. — 
Hessian  Fly.— Potato  Beetle. — Insects  that  prey  on  orchards  and  groves. 

IN  articulate  animal  life,  the  most  important  class  is  that  of  in- 
sects. As  in  temperate  latitudes  generally,  they  are  more  nu- 
merously developed  in  genera,  species  and  individuals  than  any 
other  section  of  the  animal  kingdom.  In  fact,  they  dispute  with 
man  the  empire  of  the  world.  During  spring  and  summer  they 
are  omnipresent  ;  when  the  naked  eye  does  not  recognize  them  the 
microscope  brings  them  to  light.  In  Nebraska  the  number  of 
species  is  very  great,  approximating  to  eight  or  nine  thousand. 
About  one-fourth  of  these  are  predatory  and  non-injurious  species, 
leaving  not  less  than  six  thousand,  or  two  and  a  half  injurious 
species  to  every  species  of  plant  in  the  State.  This  calculation  is 
based  on  the  original  constitution  of  the  State,  and  not  on  the  con- 
dition into  which  it  has  been  brought  by  civilization.  The  great 
body  of  injurious  species  are  so  few  in  number  that  they  rarely  do 
any  damage  that  is  noticeable.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  only  excep- 
tional conditions,  as  a  rule,  develope  injurious  species  to  a  tempor- 
ary and  damaging  multitude.  Judging  from  observation  for  fif- 
teen years,  the  insects  which  we  have  most  to  dread  are  the  chinch 
bug,  army  worm,  Hessian  fly,  potato  beetle,  the  insects  which  prey 
on  our  orchards  and  groves,  and  the  locusts. 

THE  CHINCH  BUG 

is  the  dread  of  the  agriculturists  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  It  some- 
times occurs  in  Kansas  in  enormous  numbers,  and  the  probabilities 
are  that  it  is  more  to  be  dreaded  on  the  plains  of  Nebraska  than 
even  the  locust.  I  fear  it  is  on  the  increase.  At  least,  during  the 
lae,t  season  more  have  been  sent  to  me  for  examination  than  ever 
before.  And  although  most  persons  are  familiar  with  its  gen- 
eral life-history,  I  will  repeat  it,  because  I  believe  that  here 
it  has  slightly  changed  its  habits;  at  least,  some  individuals 


132  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

have  done  so.  The  reports  say  that  about  June  the  eggs  are 
laid  on  the  ground  or  among  the  roots  of  plants,  and  that 
this  process  of  egg-laying  lasts  fifteen  or  twenty  days,  and  that  they 
number  about  500  for  each  female.  In  fifteen  days  the  eggs  hatch 
out.  The  bright  red  larvae  remain  under  ground,  sucking  at  the 
roots  of  plants.  The  full  grown  insect  is  one-twelfth  of  an  inch 
long,  of  a  black  color,  with  white  wings,  and  appears  from  the 
middle  of  July  to  August.  A  second  brood  hatches  out  still  later 
in  the  summer,  and  further  south  a  third  brood.  Evidently  some  of 
the  perfect  insects  survive  the  winter,  harboring  under  rails,  boards, 
leaves  and  grass.  I  found  them  frozen  solid,  apparently,  during  the 
last  winter,  when  hunting  for  locust  eggs,  but  they  soon  revived 
when  brought  into  a  warm  room.  Now  here  I  have  found  the 
chinch  bug  vary  from  this  history  in  this,  that  it  occasionally  de- 
posits its  eggs  on  the  lower  part  of  the  plant  itself,  as  I  ascertained 
by  bringing  such  plants  home  an  1  observing  their  transformations. 
As  the  damage  done  by  this  insect  sometimes  in  western  States  like 
Illinois  reaches  as  high  as  $73,000,000  in  a  season,  it  is  important  to 
note  the  remedies  that  have  been  devised  against  them.  Lady  bugs 
(Coccinellidae)  destroy  them,  as  also  lace-wing  flies.  During  the  last 
summer  I  dissected  several  quail,  whose  stomachs  were  filled  writh 
these  bugs.  The  protection  of  quail,  therefore,  must  have  a  salu- 
tary influence  on  restraining  their  increase.  The  methods  devised 
against  the  chinch  bugs  are  various.  Among  the  best  are  ditching 
to  keep  them  from  traveling  from  one  field  to  another,  and  keeping 
the  ground  constantly  stirred.  They  appear  to  dislike  ground  that 
is  yielding,  or  that  dirties  their  bodies.  By  ditching,  as  many  as 
forty  bushels  have  been  destroyed  in  one  day.  One  plan  is  to  drag 
a  log  through  the  ditch  to  kill  them,  and  another  is  to  dig  pits  in 
the  ditches  in  which  they  are  buried  or  otherwise  destroyed. 

THE  ARMY  WORM 

(Ltuicania  unipucto^)  as  far  as  I  know,  has  not  yet  done  any  injury 
to  the  crops  of  the  State.  I  was  at  least  three  years  in  the  State 
before  I  found  a  single  moth  of  this  insect.  The  first  one  I  found 
was  in  the  autumn  of  1867.  No  more  came  across  my  path  till 
1869.  The  first  autumn  (that  of  1871)  that  I  spent  at  the  Univer- 
sity, I  found  great  numbers,  and  on  the  whole  they  have  been  in- 
creasing ever  since.  Here  probably  two  broods  are  raised  in  a  year. 
The  eggs  are  laid  near  the  roots  of  the  prairie  grass  in  June  or  July, 
and  lie  dormant  till  the  next  spring. 


INSECT    LIFE.  133 

Remedies. — Hence  a  successful  method  of  warring  against  them 
has  been  the  burning  of  plots  of  grass  where  they  abound.  Mr. 
Walsh,  the  former  eminent  entomologist  of  Illinois,  after  a  long 
study  of  this  insect,  became  confident  that  this  is  an  infallible  rem- 
edy. And  of  course,  where  the  larvae  or  worm  makes  its  appear- 
ance, ditching  must  be  resorted  to  as  in  other  cases  with  marching 
destructive  insects.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that  our  immunity  thus 
far  from  occasional  depredations  from  this  enemy  has  been  the 
yearly  burning  of  large  tracts  of  the  prairies  of  this  State.  And 
just  in  proportion  as  this  practice  is  abandoned  for  other  reasons 
will  the  dangers  from  this  source  multiply.  I  have  received  a  few 
letters  from  different  portions  of  the  State  complaining  about  the 
appearance  of 

THE  HESSIAN  FLY. 

This  is  no  indication  that  it  will  become  troublesome,  and  yet,  to  be 
forewarned  is  often  to  be  forearmed.  I  have  had  no  experience  to 
amount  to  anything  with  this  insect. 

Habits. — But  it  is  said  to  deposit  its  eggs  in  the  long  slits  of  wheat, 
grass,  barley  and  rye  blades,  etc.,  both  in  spring  and  fall.  In  from 
live  to  twenty  days  the  eggs  hatch.  The  larvae  crawl  down  be- 
tween the  leaf  and  the  stock  until  they  reach  a  joint,  where  they 
rest  and  suck  the  sap.  They  mature  in  from  four  to  five  weeks. 
The  pupa  has  a  striking  resemblance  to  a  flax  seed,  and  is  found  at 
the  same  place  where  the  larvae  was  sucking  the  sap.  In  April, 
May  or  the  first  of  June,  the  winged  insect  appears,  and  commences 
egg-laying. 

Remedies. — It  is  also  said  that  large  numbers  of  the  pupae  are  de- 
stroyed by  cleaning  off  all  the  stubble  by  deep  plowing,  but  especi- 
ally by  burning  over  the  fields.  Quicklime  scattered  over  the  fields 
after  harvest  has  also  been  relied  on  in  some  places  in  the  east  as  a 
remedial  agent.  Strewing  the  fields  in  April  and  May  with  wood 
ashes  has  also  been  found  efficacious. 

The  larvae  of  the  wheat  midge  \Diplasis  destructor]  has  also  been 
sent  to  me  this  season,  but  to  what  extent  it  prevails  in  the  State  I 
am  unable  to  say. 

FRUIT  DESTROYERS. 

I  have  observed  no  indications  of  any  special  increase  in  the 
species  that  prey  on  orchards  and  groves,  except  in  the  case 
of  plant-lice,  which  have  been  abundant  for  several  years 
past.  It  is  well  known  that  the  species  are  exceedingly  abundant, ; 


134  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  that  they  increase  with  marvelous  rapidity,  a  single  pair  being 
capable  by  the  end  of  the  season  of  producing  millions.  The  con- 
ditions of  their  great  increase  during  some  seasons  and  their  de- 
crease during  others  are  not  well  understood.  During  this  season 
they  were  abundant  not  only  on  the  milkweeds,  amorphas,  and 
some  few  sun  flowers,  but  were  specially  abundant  on  oak  trees,  on 
the  willows,  elms  and  cottonwoods,  though  I  am  not  advised  as  to 
any  particular  damage  that  they  have  done.  It  is  claimed  by  many 
that  a  moderate  increase  of  plant-lice  is  an  advantage  where  apiaries 
are  kept,  because  of  the  heavy  honey  dew  that  some  species  produce. 
This  is  questionable,  but  it  is  one  of  those  compensations  of  which 
nature  is  so  full.  Something  at  least  is  gained,  if  when  the  vigor 
of  vegetation  is  impaired  by  the  sucking  of  wood-lice,  the  bees  pro- 
duce double  their  ordinary  stores.  For  a  few  years,  in  many  por- 
tions of  the  State,  there  has  been  an  alarming  increase  of  the 

COTTONWOOD  LEAF  BEETLE, 

or,  as  it  is  known  to  science,  the  Plogiodera  scripta.  Nowhere  has 
it  done  more  injury  than  in  Lancaster  County,  though  it  has  been 
sent  to  me  to  identify  from  many  other  places.  Some  of  the  groves 
beyond  the  Antelope,  and  many  of  the  cottonwoods  on  the  State 
Agricultural  Farm,  were  despoiled  of  their  leaves  by  this  insect. 
It  prevailed  as  far  north  as  Dakota  and  Dixon  counties.  I  saw 
trees  stripped  of  their  foliage  by  it  in  Burt  and  Washington  coun- 
ties. It  has  done  more  or  less  damage  in  at  least  twrenty  counties 
of  the  State.  During  this  season,  however,  it  has  greatly  declined 
in  numbers,  and  in  the  damage  it  has  been  doing  for  several  past 
years.  What  has  caused  all  this  decrease  I  am  unable  to  say,  but 
one  element  of  the  process  has  been  the  work  of  predatory  insects. 
I  have  found  ichneumons  and  chalcis  flies  at  work  on  them.  Rainy 
seasons  also  seem  to  be  injurious  to  them.  This,  however,  has  been 
denied.  The  fears,  however,  that  many  began  to  entertain  that  this 
insect  was  going  to  place  an  embargo  on  the  cultivation  of  the  cot- 
tonwood,  is  proved  to  be  not  well  founded.  Prof.  Culbertson  I 
think  has  somewhere  given  an  account  of  its  life  history,  and  the 
best  methods  of  counteracting  its  work,  and  that,  therefore,  I  need 
not  here  repeat. 

During  this  season,  also,  the  various  species  of  borers  have  not,  so 
far  as  I  am  advised,  made  any  special  inroads  on  the  trees  of  th  e 
State.  I  have  no  doubt  the  increase  of  our  insectiverous  birds  has  had 
much  to  do  with  lessening  the  number  of  many  of  our  insect  enemies  . 


INSECT    LIFE.  135 

Since  the  first  settlement  of  the  State, 
THE  MATERIAL  CONDITIONS   IN  RELATION  TO  INSECTS 

have  greatly  changed,  and  are  still  in  process  of  change,  and  more 
rapidly  than  ever.  Forests  have  been  removed  in  some  places,  and 
planted  in  hundreds  of  others.  Whole  counties  have  been  rapidly 
transformed  from  raw  prairies  to  cultivated  fields.  The  old  balance 
between  insects  and  plants  has  been  disturbed.  The  natural  food 
of  the  insects  has  been  removed,  but  the  insects  themselves  pro- 
bably remained.  No  alternative  then  remains  but  for  the  in- 
sects, in  accordance  with  natural  law,  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
changed  condition.  If  man  takes  away  their  natural  fond,  they  will 
naturally  confiscate,  or  try  to,  some  of  his.  For  the  loss  of  the 
-spontaneous  vegetable  productions  of  the  State,  they  find  compen- 
sation in  corn  fields,  vineyards,  orchards,  gardens,  wheat  fields  and 
clover  and  timothy  and  clover  fields.  If  the  new  vegetable  forms 
introduced  into  the  State  had  only  native  foes  to  fight,  the  struggle 
for  existence  would  not  be  so  severe.  But  in  addition,  other  foes, 
old  enemies  from  their  native  climes,  follow  them.  The  apple  tree 
and  the  vine,  the  peach  and  the  pear,  in  their  westward  march,  have 
gathered  the  foes  of  all  climes  and  all  lands,  until  their  numbers  are 
legion. 

Friends  and  Enemies. —  Still  with  the  enemies  that  have  accumu- 
lated, came  some  friends,  often  in  disguise.  Vast  numbers  of  insect 
parasites  often  make  their  appearance  to  re-establish  again  the  broken 
harmony  of  nature.  Thus  ever  changing  man  keeps  nature  in  tur- 
moil in  her  efforts  to  adapt  herself  to  the  newly  imposed  conditions. 
Insect  enemies  sometimes  make  their  appearance  and  increase  with 
•such  amazing  rapidity  as  to  threaten  the  entire  destruction  of  some 
horticultural  or  agricultural  industry.  Finally  an  enemy  stealthily 
makes  its  appearance,  sometimes  from  the  native  region  of  the 
plant,  and  sometimes  from  other  lands.  The  abundance  of  food 
favors  its  rapid  increase,  until  in  a  few  years  it  has  almost  wholly 
destroyed  the  source  of  its  food,  when  both  fall  back  to  the  narrow 
dimensions,  and  the  obscurity  from  which  they  had  emerged.  This 
continued  disturbance  and  readjustment  of  the  relations  between  in- 
sect life,  horticulture  and  agriculture  must,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
continue  for  a  generation.  This  involves  the  continued  need  of 
watchfulness  and  special  labor  in  the  entomological  field.  We  need 
for  our  State 


136  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

A  MANUAL  OF   ECONOMIC  ENTOMOLOGY, 

— such  a  one  as  Harris  prepared  for  Massachusetts — that  is,  one 
similar  in  plan,  but  very  different  in  specific  detail.  For  one-half  of 
the  insects  that  are  troublesome  in  Massachusetts  do  not  give  us 
any  concern  here,  while  the  great  body  of  our  injurious  species 
were  unknown  in  Harris'  day.  But  while  there  is  a  great  need  for 
such  a  work,  it  cannot  yet  be  prepared,  because  many  of  our  in- 
jurious species  are  as  yet  neither  known  nor  studied.  But  every 
friend  of  horticulture  can  aid  in  the  preparation  of  such  a  work,  by 
keeping  a  careful  record  and  close  notes  of  the  habits  and  life-history 
of  such  species  as  come  within  his  observations. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  LOCUSTS*— MOLLUSKS. 

Nativity. — Spring  History  and  Migration. — Numbers  that  Light  Down.— 
Egg  Laying. — Manner  of  Egg  Laying.  — Hatching. — Departure  of  Locusts. — 
Destructiveness  of  Locusts. — How  to  Combat  and  Destroy  the  Locusts. 
— Nature's  Methods  of  Destroying  Locusts. — Invertebrate  Enemies. — Ver- 
tebrate Enemies. — Extent  of  Locust  Invasions. — Probable  Future  of  Locust 
Depredations  — Mollusks. 

NOTHING  in  the  natural  history  of  Nebraska  has  excited  such 
general  interest  as  the  locust  question.      Where  then,  do  they 
.breed,  how  frequently  do  their  visitations  occur,  and  what  is  the 
amount  of  damage  which  they  do? 

The  migrating  locust,  ( Caloptenu s  spretus^)  is  native  to  the  high 
and  dry  regions  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Its  permanent  habitat 
is  the  region  between  latitude  43°  and  53°  north,  and  103°  and 
114°  west  of  Greenwich.  Even  some  portions  of  this  section  are 
sometimes  deserted  for  a  few  years  for  other  grounds,  but  always 
somewhere  within  this  territory  they  will  be  found  to  exist.  In  a 
majority  of  years  some  locusts  will  also  be  found  to  breed  south  of 
the  above  line,  along  the  region  west  of  longitude  105°  30'.  The 


*The  reader  is  referred  for  a  detailed  account  of  the  Locust  question  to  the  Report  of  the 
IT  S.  Entemolojrical  Commission  for  1877,  which  includes  the  writer's  investigations  and  con- 
clusions on  this  subject  at  greater  length  and  fulness. 


THE    LOCUSTS.  137 

great  interior  region  between  the  Wasatch  and  the  Sierras  over 
much  of  its  territory  will  be  found  to  harbor  a  few  during  most 
years.  W  henever,  therefore,  over  these  regions  the  conditions  are 
favorable  they  increase  to  astonishing  numbers.  These  favoring 
conditions  are  exceptional  dryness  and  warmth.  If  two  such 
seasons  follow  each  other  in  the  native  habitat  of  the  locust  they 
are  sure  to  migrate. 

Their  Spring  History  and  Migration. — After  they  hatch  out  in  the 
spring  it  takes  about  seven  weeks  before  they  reach  their  full 
growth.  During  this  time  they  moult  five  different  times,  and 
each  time  change  slightly  in  color.  Only  at  the  last  moult  are  full 
wings  acquired,  the  thorax  flattened  and  the  insect  ceases  to  grow. 
Where  now  they  cover  the  ground  in  their  native  haunts  from  their 
abundance  the  scanty  vegetation  is  soon  exhausted.  It  is  now  that 
they  manifest  their  peculiar  instincts.  They  take  short  flights  for 
several  weeks,  apparently  to  test  and  strengthen  their  newly  ac- 
quired wings.  The  warm  pleasant  days  with  gentle  winds  are  the 
favorable  peiiods  for  flight.  When  all  is  in  readiness  they  rise 
from  eight  to  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  and  move  ofF  with  a 
rapidity  dependent  on  the  wind,  varying  from  three  to  fifteen  miles 
an  hour.  They  do  not  move  in  broad  sheets,  but  in  columns  like 
fleecy  clouds  from  one  to  five  thousand  feet  thick.  They  some- 
times continue  their  flight  through  clear,  warm,  moonlight  nights, 
but  more  generally  come  down  between  three  and  five  o'clock  to 
feed.  On  the  following  day  they  continue  their  flight  if  the  weather 
is  favorable.  A  change  of  wind  or  fall  of  temperature  brings  them 
to  the  ground  at  any  time.  From  their  native  habitat  they  move 
mainly  in  an  easterly,  southeasterly,  and  southern  direction. 
Moving  in  this  direction  those  that  commence  migrating  from 
Montana  by  the  middle  of  July  reach  Nebraska  and  Kansas  some 
time  in  August  or  September.  They  do  not  always  deposit  their 
eggs  where  they  first  light  down.  Frequently  they  remain  from 
one  day  to  three  weeks  and  then  move  farther  on  before  egg  laying- 
is  commenced. 

The  Numhers  that  Light  Down  is  often  enormous.  In  1866  in 
Cedar  County,  during  Julv,  they  appeared  in  such  numbers  that 
the  sun  was  darkened.  The  limbs  of  trees  bent  down  and  broke 
under  their  weight.  It  was  exceedingly  difficult  for  one  to  move 
through  the  living  mass.  Others  have  had,  and  reported  similar 
experiences.  It  is  true  that  such  cases  are  extreme  and  exceptional, 


138  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

and  occur  at  long  intervals  over  limited  areas.  It  has  been  no  un- 
common thing,  however,  for  them  to  be  so  abundant  as  to  entirely 
cover  the  ground. 

Egg  Laying. — The  time  for  the  commencement  of  egg  laying 
varies  somewhat  in  different  years  and  localities.  Generally  it 
commences  about  the  middle  of  August  and  continues  to  severe 
frost,  and  lasts  therefore  from  six  to  eight  weeks.  In  1876  the 
locusts  were  laying  eggs  far  into  October.  The  female  generally 
lays  three  times,  at  intervals  of  from  three  days  to  three  weeks. 
Each  egg  mass  contains  from  twenty  to  thirty-five  eggs. 

Place  and  Method  of  Egg  Laying  — The  places  for  egg  laying  are 
not  uniformly  the  same.  They  seem  to  prefer  ground  that  is  high 
and  dry,  and  somewhat  compact.  Low  lands,  however,  that  are 
•dry  are  much  used  for  this  purpose.  Road  sides  are  frequently 
honeycombed  with  holes,  but  comparatively  few  egg  'masses  are 
found  there.  New  breaking  is  generally  fuller  of  eggs  than  any 
other  kind  of  ground.  The  number  laid  is  often  simply  enormous. 
I  have  often  found  sections  of  land  where  the  eggs  averaged  from 
ten  to  fourteen  thousand,  and  in  rare  instances  to  upwards  of  twenty- 
one  thousand  to  the  square  foot.  These  enormous  numbers  are  only 
reached  during  years  when  the  locust  swarms  are  exceptionally 
dense. 

Manner  of  Egg  Laying. — When  the  female  is  about  to  lay  her 
eggs  she  selects  a  spot  and  "  forces  a  hole  in  the  ground  by  means 
of  the  two  pairs  of  horny  valves,  which  open  and  shut,  at  the  tip 
of  her  abdomen,  and  which  from  their  peculiar  structure  are  ad- 
mirably fitted  for  the  purpose.  With  the  valves  closed  she  pushes 
the  tips  into  the  ground,  and  by  a  series  of  muscular  efforts,  and 
the  continued  opening  and  shutting  of  the  valves,  she  drills  a  hole 
until  in  a  few  moments  (the  time  varying  with  the  nature  of  the 
soil)  the  whole  abdomen  is  buried.  The  abdomen  stretches  to  its 
utmost  for  this  purpose,  especially  at  the  middle,  and  the  hole  is 
generally  a  little  curved  and  more  or  less  oblique.  Now  with  hind 
legs  hoisted  straight  above  the  back  and  the  shanks  hugging  more 
or  less  closely  the  thighs  she  commences  ovipositing."  (Riley.) 
Before  the  eggs  come  out  there  exudes  from  the  end  of  the  body 
a  mucous  matter  \vhich  fills  the  bottom  of  the  hole  and  bathes  the 
valves.  The  eggs  separately,  by  convulsive  throbs,  are  placed  in 
order  in  the  hole.  The  mucous  matter  binds  all  the  eggs  together. 
When  the  locust  is  through  with  this  process,  she  fills  the  upper 


THE    LOCUSTS.  139 

end  of  the  mass  with  the  same  mucous  matter,  and  then  shuts  up 
the  hole  carefully.  This  mucous  after  hardening  is  only  pervious 
to  water  under  frequent  changes  of  temperature  and  during  long 
wet  seasons. 

When  severe  frost  comes  the  old  die  off  rapidly  and  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  permanent  cold  weather  they  have  all  disappeared. 

Hatching* — It  often  happens  that  during  the  long  dry  autumns 
of  Nebraska,  great  numbers  of  the  earlier  laid  eggs  hatch  out  and 
soon  perish  with  the  cold  of  winter.  Many  eggs  also  become 
segmented  in  autumn  and  whether  they  survive  till  spring  in  a 
healthy  condition  is  still  with  many  a  disputed  question.  My  own 
opinion,  derived  from  the  closest  observation,  is  that  all  such  come 
out  in  the  spring,  if  they  come  out  at  all,  in  a  sickly  condition  and 
soon  perish.  Sometimes,  too,  as  happened  in  1877,  there  is  much 
warm  weather  in  January  and  February,  during  which  great  num- 
bers hatch  out  that  invariably  perish  by  the  subsequent  cold  weather. 
During  spring  the  great  hatching  months  are  March  and  April. 
In  these  months  cold  always  interrupts  the  process.  This  occurred 
in  the  Spring  of  1877?  when  there  were  many  cold  days  and  chilly 
winds,  and  as  a  consequence  hatching  was  not  over  till  early  June. 

Departure  of  Locusts. — As  already  stated,  a  few  days  after  the 
last  moult  on  favorable  days  they  are  disposed  to  migrate.  No  ex- 
ception to  this  rule  is  known  in  the  region  of  the  plains.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  where  they  are  few  in  number  in  their  native  habitat  they 
do  not  always  migrate,  but  even  that  is  uncertain.  In  Nebraska, 
Iowa,  Dakota,  Kansas  and  Missouri  they  are  disposed  to  return  to 
their  native  regions.  They  therefore  move  mainly  northward  and 
westward.  Their  instincts  seem  to  force  them  to  dryer  and  higher 
regions,  where  they  originated.  Such  was  specially  the  case  when 
countless  millions  left  the  Stale  in  1876.  During  1877,  ^e  sPrmg 
of  which  was  rainy,  cold  and  chilly,  the  greater  part  of  those  that 
hatched  out  soon  perished,  and  the  few  that  survived  seemed  sickly 
and  demoralized.  These  survivors  first  mainly  moved  northward, 
and  then  moved  southward,  and  finally  were  seen  to  move  in  all 
directions;  often  two  columns,  one  above  the  other,  moving  in  op- 
posite directions.  The  greater  part  of  this  season's  product  of  lo- 
custs evidently  ran  out,  and  perished  by  too  long  a  stay  in  a  region 
un adapted  to  them. 

Destructiveness  of  Locusts. — When  the  migrating  locusts  make 
their  appearance  in  Nebraska,  the  cereal  grains  are  already  har- 


140  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

vested.  Wheat,  oats  and  barley  are  safe.  Corn  and  the  gardens  are 
the  victims,  if  they  come  before  the  former  are  sufficiently  ripened 
to  resist  their  attacks,  which  is  not  always  the  case.  A  swarm  of 
locusts  in  July  or  August  can  ruin  a  field  of  corn  in  a  few  days,  and 
sometimes  in  a  few  hours.  Often  the  fields  are  only  partially  de- 
stroyed. Sometimes  the  silk  and  foliage  is  partially  eaten  off,  and 
the  ends  of  the  ears  bared,  so  that  the  crops  cannot  mature.  If 
they  leave  at  this  stage  of  their  proceedings,  all  is  well,  and  if  not, 
their  eggs  are  deposited  and  the  wheat  crop  endangered  during  the 
coming  spring.  The  countless  numbers  that  are  hatched  out,  if  the 
spring  is  favorable  to  them,  become  exceedingly  voracious.  As 
they  soon  commence  to  move  by  jumping  in  one  direction,  when 
abundant,  they  are  apt  to  devour  everything  in  their  path.  This 
continues  until  they  are  old  enough  to  fly,  when  they  depart  for 
other  regions.  Generally  some  corn  can  be  saved  in  spring,  and 
late  planting  may  entirely  escape.  Often  the  third  planting  of 
corn  during  locust  years  yielded  a  fair  crop.  The  cereal  grains, 
however,  have  in  some  places,  and  during  some  years,  been  largely 
destroyed  during  the  time  between  the  hatching  out  and  flight  of 
the  locusts. 

How  to  Combat  and  Destroy  the  Locusts. — No  successful  method  has 
yet  been  devised  to  destroy  the  locusts  on  their  first  appearance  in 
migrating  swarms  from  the  northwest.  The  injury,  as  already 
stated,  which  they  now  do  is  to  the  corn  crops  and  the  gardens,  and 
sometimes  to  young  growing  fruit  and  forest  trees.  The  eggs* 
however,  which  are  laid  in  autumn,  have  been  frequently  destroyed 
by  repeatedly  harrowing  the  ground,  breaking  up  the  nests,  and  ex- 
posing them  to  the  action  of  rain  and  cold  and  birds.  Hon.  R.  W. 
Furnas,  of  Brownville,  who  first  to  my  knowledge  devised  this 
method,  found  it  to  be  very  successful.  Plowing  them  under  very 
deep,  also  destroys  great  numbers.  When  they  hatch  out  in  spring 
in  destructive  numbers,  the  most  vigorous  methods  need  to  be  em- 
ployed. One  of  the  most  successful  ways  of  destroying  them  is 
the  digging  of  ditches  around  fields  across  the  path  on  which  they 
are  moving.  If  the  trenches  are  made  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
inches  deep,  and  still  deeper  holes  dug  every  few  rods  in  the  trenches, 
the  young  locusts  first  get  into  the  trenches,  then  into  the  holes, 
where,  unable  to  get  out,  they  can  be  destroyed  by  piling  ground 
on  them.  I  have  known  many  farmers  to  save  their  entire  crops 
in  this  way  in  the  very  midst  of  the  most  infected  districts. 


THE    LOCUSTS.  Ill 

Still  others  have  saved  their  crops  by  a  system  very  generally  in 
use  in  the  spring  of  1877.  Pans  made  of  sheet  iron,  from  five  to 
ten  feet  long,  low  in  front  and  high  behind  and  at  the  sides,  with 
cross  partitions  from  front  to  rear,  is  the  general  plan  of  the  ap- 
paratus used.  A  little  coal  oil  is  placed  in  these  pans,  and 
dragged  over  the  fields  by  hand  or  horse  power.  The  young 
locusts  jump  into  or  over  the  pans,  and  even  the  fume's  are  fatal  to 
them.  In  this  way  I  have  known  fourteen  bushels  to  be  captured 
in  one  day  by  one  man.  The  combination  of  these  two  plans — 
ditching  and  coal  oil  pans — will  save  any  farm  in  the  spring  from 
the  ravages  of  the  brood  hatched  in  that  locality,  if  commenced  in 
time.  Unfortunately,  farmers  too  often  simply  look  on  until  their 
crops  are  partly  destroyed,  before  anything  is  done  to  protect  them- 
selves. It  requires  energy  and  decision  to  do  this,  but  when  it  is 
properly  commenced  and  persevered  in,  it  is  successful. 

Nature's  Method  of  Destroying  Locusts. — Nature  has  placed  limits 
to  the  increase  of  the  individuals  of  a  species.  When  there  is  an 
undue  increase  from  exceptional  favoring  conditions,  either  natural 
enemies  soon  proportionally  increase  or  the  need  of  food  compels 
migration,  which  often  forces  to  unhealthy  regions.  This  is  the 
case  with  the  migrating  locust.  Its  native  habitat  is  a  high,  dry 
region,  where  the  rainfall  is  from  ten  to  twenty  inches  a  year.  It 
cannot  long  endure  a  combination  of  low  altitudes  and  moisture, 
combined  with  extreme  and  sudden  changes  of  temperature. 
Hence,  the  locust  can  never  become  localized  in  Nebraska.  The 
memorable  spring  of  1877  is  a  notable  illustration  of  this  fact.  In 
March  and  April  immense  numbers  hatched  out,  and  then  followed 
cold  rains,  with  sudden  alternations  of  extremes  of  temperature. 
Countless  millions  of  young  locusts  died.  Many  spots  where  the 
ground  seemed  to  be  covered  with  them,  none  could  be  found  in  a 
few  days.  Nothing  often  convinced  me  that  death  was  the  cause  ot 
their  disappearance,  until,  getting  down  on  my  hands  and  knees 
and  examining  the  ground;with  a  huge  magnifying  glass,  I  found 
their  dead  carcasses.  'The  young  brood  just  hatched  out  disap- 
peared as  if  by  magic  from  whole  counties.  The  localities  where 
much  damage  was  done  were  exceedingly  few.  In  fact,  the  brood 
was  so  impaired  constitutionally  that  it  fell  an  easy  victim  to  the 
extremes  of  a  moist  climate  in  a  comparatively  low  altitude.  I  also 
noticed,  in  previous  locust  years,  that  moisture  accompanied  by  an 
extremely  hot  or  cold  day  was  always  fatal  to  many  of  them. 


142  PHYSICAL   GEOGKAPHY. 

Invertebrate  Enemies. — It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  the  undue  devel- 
opment of  any  animal  is  checked  sooner  or  later  by  a  like  increase 
of  its  natural  enemies.  Were  it  not  for  that  law,  the  slowest  breed- 
ing species  would  soon  overrun,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  ani- 
mals, its  own  special  habitat. 

Among  locust  egg  destroyers,  no  insect  equals  in  efficacy  the  An- 
thomyia  egg-parasite  (Anthomyia  angustifrous}.  A  few  were  noticed 
in  1874,  and  by  1876  it  destroyed  about  ten  per  cent  of  the  eggs  in 
Nebraska,  and  Prof.  Thomas  reports  an  equal  destruction  in  Kansas,, 
Missouri,  Iowa  and  Minnesota.  He  also  remarks  that  "  we  never 
dug  for  five  minutes  among  the  locust  eggs,  anywhere  in  our 
travels  during  May,  without  finding  this  parasite,  in  various  stages 
of  development."  It  is  a  small  white  magot,  and  is  found  in  the 
locust  egg  pod  extracting  the  juices  and  leaving  nothing  but  dry 
dissolved  shells.  From  this  magot  is  developed  a  small  gray  two- 
winged  fly,  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  long.  The  common  flesh 
fly,  many  species  of  Ground,  Blister,  Soldier  and  Dick  beetles,  also 
prey  on  locust  eggs. 

After  the  locusts  emerge  from  the  eggs,  their  greatest  insect  enemy 
is  the  Locust  Mite  (Trombidium  locustarium}.  It  also  preys  on  the 
eggs.  The  parent  mite  lays  from  three  to  four  hundred  eggs,  and 
therefore  increases  at  a  prodigious  rate.  The  young  mite  manages 
to  fasten  itself  on  the  locust,  especially  during  and  after  rains,  and 
mostly  lodges  under  the  base  of  the  wings.  Such  numbers  are  often 
found  lodged  on  single  locusts  as  necessarily  to  produce  death. 
During  locust  flights,  I  have  frequently  seen  hundreds  fall  to  the 
ground,  which,  on  examination,  proved  to  be  partially  destroyed  by 
these  mites.  Ground  beetles,  Asilus  flies,  Flesh  flies,  Digger 
Wasps  and  Tachina  flies,  especially  the  latter,  also  feed  on  locusts 
and  destroy  great  numbers.  Hair  worms,  Spiders,  Soldier-bugs 
and  Dragon  flies  also  prey  on  the  locust. 

Vertebrate  Enemies. — Among  vertebrates,  no  animals  equal  the 
birds  as  destroyers  of  insects,  and  especially  of  locusts.  The  num- 
bers of  locusts  which  birds  consume  is  simply  incalculable.  Many 
species  in  locust  years  live  entirely  on  them,  and  most  do  so  par- 
tially. Often  each  bird  of  a  species  captures  several  hundred  during 
each  day.  In  fact,  after  many  years'  study  of  this  subject,  and  after 
dissecting  more  or  less  of  several  hundred  species,  I  have  been 
forced  to  the  conviction  that  even  the  gramnivorous  birds  cannot 
be  excluded  from  the  list  of  locust  enemies.  The  reader  will  find 


THE   LOCUSTS.  14S 

the  record  of  each  case  of  dissection  of  over  200  species  of  our 
birds,  which  I  made  during  many  years,  in  the  report  of  the  U.  S. 
Entomological  Commission  for  1877.  It  is  clear  to  my  mind  that 
few  as  yet  appreciate  the  great  and  commanding  importance  of 
protecting  our  birds.  If  this  was  properly  done,  few  species  of  in- 
sects would  ever  increase  to  destructive  numbers.  Unfortunately,, 
the  savage  is  still  dominant  in  man,  and  many  calling  themselves 
cultivated  regard  it  sport  to  maim  and  kill  innocent  birds.  Such  a 
course  destroys  the  harmony  of  nature,  and  one  of  the  consequences 
is  the  devastations  of  insects. 

Extent  of  Locust  Invasions. — Unfortunately,  the  human  mind 
has  a  tendency  to  exaggeration.  Owing  to  this,  during  every  lo- 
cust invasion,  the  damage  done  has  been  over-estimated.  In  1874^ 
1876  and  1877,  they  did  much  damage,  but  by  no  means  as  much  as 
was  reported.  The  drouth,  and  human  indolence  and  carelessness, 
did  much  more.  I  knew  men  during  these  years  that  never  touched 
their  corn  after  it  was  planted,  and  of  course,  got  none,  as  they  did 
not  deserve  any,  who  yet  charged  the  locusts  with  destroying 
their  crops,  though  none  had  come  within  five  miles  of  their  home- 
steads. 

Sometimes  there  are  many  years  between  locust  invasions.  It 
rarely  occurs  that  the  whole  State  suffers  at  once.  While  the 
small  visitations  have  been  frequent,  the  destructive  ones  occurred 
at  long  intervals  and  over  comparatively  small  areas. 

Future  Locust  Depredations. — One  reason  for  the  destructiveness 
of  locusts  heretofore  has  been  the  small  area  in  the  thickest  settle- 
ments under  cultivation.  The  locusts  seemed  to  select  the  corn- 
fields and  gardens  for  their  feeding  grounds.  When  the  area  under 
cultivation  is  trebled,  the  amount  of  damage  which  they  can  do 
will  be  more  than  one-half  less.  Another  more  potent  agency 
against  their  increase  and  destructiveness  is  the  increasing  rainfall  of 
the  State.  We  have  already  seen  how  the  wet  season  of  1877  de- 
stroyed the  greater  part  of  those  that  appeared  that  spring.  Dur- 
ing each  coming  decade  the  number  of  similar  seasons  will  increase* 
The  instincts  of  the  locust  will  also  prompt  it  to  remain  away  from 
a  region  so  hostile  to  its  existence. 

While,  therefore,  the  presence  of  the  locust  in  the  trans-Missouri 
region  is  extremely  undesirable,  it  is  by  no  means  the  pest  that  it 
sometimes  has  been  represented  to  be.  Human  energy  and  skill 
can  in  a  large  measure  counteract  their  injurious  effects. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


144  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

MOLLUSKS.* 

Though  not  directly  connected  with  the  main  question  of  this 
chapter,  yet,  for  convenience,  the  following  brief  enumeration  of 
our  moluscan  fauna  is  given.  There  being  no  sea-coast,  only  land 
and  fresh  water  forms  are  native  to  the  State.  Of  these,  the  air- 
breathers  are  well  represented.  The  Vitrianas,  a  subfamily  closely 
allied  to  the  snails,  are  represented  by  seventeen  species.  Of  the 
snails  proper  (Helicince),  there  are  thirty  species,  the  most  abundant 
of  which  is  the  Spotted  Snail  (Helix  alternata].  There  have  been 
classified  of  the  Pupinae  twelve  species,  of  Succiniae  eight  species, 
of  Zonitinse  seven  species,  these  last  being  distantly  allied  to  the 
preceding  group.  The  fresh  water  shells  are  even  more  abundant  than 
the  preceding  land  shells.  Thus  far,  there  have  been  found  of  these 
thirteen  species  of  Limnaea,  eight  species  of  Physa,  two  of  Bullimus, 
twelve  of  Planorbis,  one  of  Segmentina,  four  of  Ancyclus,  two  of 
Valvata,  three  of  Vinipera,  three  of  Melantho,  two  of  Amnicola, 
two  of  Pomatiopsis  and  five  Melanians.  These  fresh  water  shells 
having  but  one  valve  in  a  spiral  are  often  .all  popularly  designated 
as  water  snails.  But  the  most  abundant  of  all  our  fresh  water 
shells  are  the  so-called  clams  (Unios  and  Anadontas].  Of  the  Unios 
there  are  at  least  sixty-seven  species,  of  the  Margaritanas  two,  and 
of  the  thin-shelled,  muddy-bottom  loving  Anadontas  there  have 
been  fourteen  species  found  in  the  State.  These  are  the  numbers 
that  I  have  identified,  but  as  I  have  examined  only  comparatively 
small  sections  of  our  rivers,  it  cannot  be  possible  that  all  the  species 
came  in  my  way.  Many  more  species  must,  therefore,  be  added  to 
our  list.  In  fact,  I  have  often  waded  in  our  rivers  for  miles  with- 
out finding  a  single  shell,  and  then,  coming  upon  a  hard  or  solid 
bottom  of  limestone,  the  bed  appeared  lined  with  Unios  of  many 
species.  Before  we  know  what  our  rivers  contain  of  our  molluscan 
fauna,  they  must  be  closely  examined  along  their  whole  length,  a 
task  too  severe  for  any  one  investigator. 


*For  a  specific  list  of  our  Land  and  Fresh  Water  Shells,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
writer's  Catalogue  of  the  Land  and  Fresh  Water  Shells  of  Nebraska,  published  in  Bulletin 
3,  Vol.  III.  of  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 


HEALTH  FULNESS.  145 


CHAPTliR  XIV. 

Healthfulness. — Reserve   Forces,  and  Probable  Future  of    the   Race  in 
Nebraska. 

IS  Nebraska  a  healthy  region?  That  is  a  question  which  is  more 
frequently  asked  than  any  other  by  many  classes  contemplating 
removal  to  Nebraska.  Among  the  special  questions  asked  are: 
Do  fever  and  ague,  dyspepsia,  consumption,  etc.,  exist  here?  No 
spot  on  the  globe  is  absolutely  free  from  disease,  but  this  State  is 
singularly  exempt  from  its  severe  forms.  Fever  and  ague  are 
rarely  met  with.  The  fact  is  that  less  malarial  diseases  exist  here 
than  in  any  other  western  State.  When  they  do  occur  it  is  owTing 
to  limited  local  causes,  or  extraordinary  exposure,  and  they  are 
generally  successfully  treated  by  the  simplest  remedies.  The  bad 
cases  that  have  been  met  were  invariably  contracted  elsewhere, 
and  came  here  in  the  hope  of  having  the  disease  cured  by  our 
climate.  They  never  were  disappointed  if  they  here  gave  nature 
a  chance  to  exert  its  full  health-making  power  on  their  bodies. 
Every  effect  must  have  a  cause,  and  the  cause  of  this  general 
exemption  from  this  class  of  diseases  is  probably  found  in  the 
peculiar  climate  and  surface  conditions  of  the  State.  The  general 
drainage  of  the  State,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  best  possible.  Its 
general  slope  is  east  and  south,  the  southeastern  corner  being  the 
lowest.  The  rivers  with  the  smaller  streams  that  flow  into  them 
have  high  banks,  on  top  of  which  the  flood  plains  begin,  and  extend 
to  a  greater  or  less  distance  back  to  the  bluffs  where  there  is  another 
rise  to  the  general  plain  above.  The  rivers  themselves  are  gener- 
ally comparatively  rapid,  and  their  flood  plains  are  rarely  a  dead 
level,  but  descend  gradually  in  the  direction  of  the  main  streams. 
And  although  often  the  flood  plain  is  slightly  higher  next  to  the 
river  than  it  is  next  to  the  bluffs,  the  water  that  tends  to  accumulate 
there  is  carried  off  by  the  lateral  tributaries  that  join  the  main 
stream.  As  these  smaller  tributaries  are  met  with  every  few  miles, 
and  often  on  an  average  every  mile,  the  drainage  of  even  the 
great  majority  of  the  bottom  lands  is  complete. 
10 


146  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Besides  these  favoring  conditions  the  soil  is  principally  Loess  and 
Modified  Drift  and  contains  from  sixty  to  eighty  per  cent,  of  sili- 
cious  matter,  very  finely  comminuted,  which  readily  permits  all 
\vater  from  rains  and  snows  to  percolate  through  it.  Beneath  the 
Loess  unmodified  Drift  occurs,  and  this  being  made  up  of  sand, 
pebbles  and  boulders,  all  the  conditions  for  complete  drainage  are 
completely  supplied.  Even  the  black,  rich  surface  soil,  so  wonder- 
ful for  its  fertility,  contains  silicious  material  in  sufficient  quantities 
to  produce  good  drainage.  The  consequence  of  such  inclination  of 
the  land  and  character  of  the  soil  and  subsoil  is  that  over  large 
areas  in  the  State  standing  water  is  unknown.  Indeed,  many 
citizens  of  the  State,  who  have  not  traveled  much,  fancy  that  there 
is  no  standing  water  within  its  boundaries.  There  are,  however,  a 
few  limited  localities  where  swamps  and  bogs  exist,  such  as  a  por- 
tion of  the  Missouri  bottom  in  Dixon  and  Burt  counties,  and  on 
small  portions  of  the  level  prairies,  in  Clay,  Webster,  Fillmore  and 
Saline  counties.  Even  here  the  general  elevation  of  these  counties, 
and  the  constant  movement  of  the  winds  seems  to  counteract 
the  conditions  of  the  surface  that  favor  malarial  diseases.  Not 
only  does  the  atmosphere  seem  to  be  constantly  in  motion,  but  is 
also  comparatively  dry.  In  summer  and  autumn  the  prevailing- 
winds  are  south  and  southwest.  In  winter  the  prevailing  winds 
are  from  the  north  and  northwest.  In  spring  the  winds,  as  else- 
where, are  exceedingly  variable,  and  seem  to  be  nearly  equally 
divided,  between  north  and  northwest,  and  south  and  southwest. 
Often  in  the  spring  the  prevailing  winds  are  from  the  northeast. 
The  air  is  always  remarkably  pure  and  generally  clear.  All  these 
are  conditions  that  are  unfavorable  to-  the  production  and  propaga- 
tion of  miasmatic  poisons. 

An  additional  reason  for  the  healthfulness  of  Nebraska  might  be 
the  presence  of  an  unusual  quantity  of  ozone  in  the  atmosphere. 
I  merely  suggest  this  as  a  partial  explanation  of  this  fact,  as  no 
single  cause,  but  many  combined,  produce  the  healthfulness  of  a 
region.  In  the  section  on  the  Atmosplierc  of  Nebraska,  I  have 
shown  that  the  atmosphere  of  Nebraska  is  exceptionally  full 
of  ozone,  caused  probably  by  its  highly  electric  condition,  and  the 
constant  movement  of  electricity  through  dry  air.  As  is  well 
known,  ozone  is  found  in  the  east  in  perceptible  quantities  only 
after  thunder  storms,  by  which  many  suppose  it  to  be  produced. 
As  here  during  much  of  the  time,  before  as  well  as  after  thundci 


HEALTHFULNESS.  147. 

showers,  there  is  a  perceptible  quantity  of  ozone  in  the  atmos- 
phere, sufficient  at  least  to  respond  to  the  Shcenbein  test  papers,  it 
must  have  some  effect  on  health.  That  its  effects  are  salutary, 
especially  in  the  destruction  of  malarial  poisons,  is  the  conviction 
of  the  best  medical  authorities. 

The  bane  of  some  otherwise  favored  localities  in  America,  is 
consumption.  In  Massachusetts,  for  instance,  the  vital  statistics  of 
the  United  States  show  this  to  be  one  of  the  commonest  causes  of 
death.  Now,  whatever  maybe  the  cause,  Nebraska  has  a  singular 
immunity  from  this  and  kindred  diseases.  During  a  residence  of 
nearly  fifteen  years  in  the  State  I  have  not  known  .of  a  single  case 
of  consumption  to  be  contracted  in  Nebraska.  There  may  have 
been  such  cases,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  after  diligent 
inquiry,  or  even  to  hear  of  such.*  Many  indeed  have  died  of  this 
disease  in  the  State,  but  so  far  as  I  have  learned  the  particulars  of 
their  cases,  they  all  came  into  the  State  in  an  advanced  stage  of  the 
disease,  and  sometimes  here  succumbed  to  it,  only  because  o'f  a  want 
of  proper  care  and  remedies.  On  the  other  hand,  hundreds  come 
here  with  the  disease  who  are  cured  by  the  climate  alone.  I  know, 
for  example,  one  young  lady  who  was  sent  here  from  Philadelphia, 
apparently  far  gone  with  consumption,  and  reduced  almost  to  skin 
and  bone,  and  too  weak  to  walk.  She  immediately  commenced  to 
improve,  and  in  a  year  weighed  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds.  I 
admit  that  this  was  an  extreme  case  and  that  she  had  the  best  atten- 
tion and  care,  but  it  shows  at  least  the  possibilities  in  this  direction 
of  this  climate  with  such  adjuncts.  This  same  lady  was  struck  by 
cupid,  got  married,  and  is  now  the  mother  of  three  healthy,  rosy 
children.  Many  more  instances  of  a  similar  kind  could  be  given. 

I  have  known  a  great  number  of  asthmatic  subjects  to  come  here, 
and  soon  all  symptoms  of  the  disease  disappeared.  Some  years  ago 
a  young  lady,  a  relative  of  my  family,  came  to  visit  us  from  Penn- 
sylvania. She  had  not  been  able,  from  difficulty  of  breathing,  to 
lie  down  in  her  old  home  for  six  months  before  she  came  here.  The 
first  night  in  Nebraska  she  was  able  to  lie  down  and  sleep  comfortably 
till  morning.  In  a  few  months  she  seemed  perfectly  restored,  which 
proved  to  be  permanent  for  years  after  her  return  home.  It  is  also 
curious  that  horses  with  the  heaves  lose  all  traces  of  this  disease  when 


*Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  learner!  from  Or.  Livingston  of  Plattsmouth,  an  eminent 
physician,  that  one  ciixe  of  consumption  contracted  in  .Nebraska  came  to  his  professional 
knowledge.  This,  however.,  is  exceptional. 


148  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

brought  to  Nebraska.  Bronchitis  also  here  readily  yields  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  climate.  Inflammation  of  the  lungs  seldom  occurs,  and 
when  contracted,  readily  yields  to  treatment.  A  volume  could  easily 
be  filled  with  cures  wrought  by  this  climate  on  this  class  of  patients. 
Of  course  the  climate  cannot  perform  miracles.  No  one  should  ex- 
pect to  be  cured  here  who  is  in  the  third  stage  of  pulmonary  disease. 
Sick  ones  who  come  for  health  should  be  sure  to  go  where  they  can 
get  rest  and  be  provided  with  home  cemforts.  When  scarlet 
fever  and  measles  appear  they  are  generally  in  their  mild  forms. 
They  rarely  appear  as  epidemics.  As  to  typhus  and  cerebro-spinal 
fevers  they  are  comparatively  rare.  Physicians  of  eminence  assure 
me  that  the  mortality  from  these  diseases  in  other  States  is  compar- 
atively much  greater  than  here. 

The  chief  complaint  that  I  have  heard  from  citizens  of  Nebraska 
concerning  its  healthfulness  is  that  it  tends  to  produce  rheumatism 
and  nervous  disorders.  On  diligent  inquiry,  however,  I  have  al- 
most invariably  found  that  the  great  body  of  those  complaining  in 
this  direction  are  such  as  have  been  insufficiently  clothed  during  the 
colds  of  winter,  or  have  exposed  themselves  to  an  extent  or  indulged 
in  practices  that  would  have  produced  these  diseases  in  any  climate. 
The  tendency  always  is,  in  a  new  State,  among  the  first  energetic 
settlers,  to  great  exposure.  Many  start  for  the  West  with  barely 
enough  to  reach  their  destination.  Often  little  is  produced  the  first 
year  on  the  homestead,  and  the  old  clothes  are  made  to  do  duty  the 
second  year.  Until  the  new  homestead  is  fairly  under  cultivation 
(which  sometimes  takes  several  years),  the  new  immigrant  is  often 
put  to  great  straits  for  groceries  and  clothing.  Of  course,  when  the 
immigrant  brings  along  money  or  stock  to  carry  him  over  the  first 
year,  it  need  not  be  so,  but  thus  far  the  majority  have  not  been  of 
this  class.  The  circumstances,  too,  of  a  new  country,  stimulate  to 
great  risks  and  enterprises.  Men  will  often  start  off  on  long 
journeys,  through  sparsely  settled  districts,  ford  streams,  and  in 
many  other  ways  subject  themselves  unnecessarily  to  flood  and 
storm.  The  consequence  is  that  the  principal  diseases  in  some  sec- 
tions and  seasons,  have  been  rheumatism  and  neuralgia.  I  was  once 
laid  up  with  rheumatism,  but  it  was  after  working  in  the  Elkhorn 
River,  with  the  water  above  my  middle,  when  the  thermometer 
was  fifteen  degrees  below  zero,  trying  to  extricate  my  team  which 
had  broken  through  the  ice.  For  this  I  could  not  blame  the  climate. 
Turkish  baths  soon  took  the  rheumatism  out  of  me.  And  yet  with 


HEALTHFULNE8S.  149 

all  these  circumstances  favorable  to  contracting  rheumatism,  statis- 
tics show  that  most  of  the  States  have  more  deaths  from  this  cause 
than  Nebraska.  Even  California  has  double  the  number  of  deaths 
from  this  cause. 

It  has  sometimes  been  objected  that  the  extremes  of  temperature 
and  of  other  conditions  in  Nebraska,  must  be  unfavorable  to  health. 
There  is,  however,  a  great  difference  between  an  extreme  and  a  de- 
structive climate.  That  Nebraska  has  no  destructive  climate,  is  at 
once  apparent,  from  the  great  variety  of  its  vegetable  forms  and 
the  exuberance  of  its  natural  animal  life.  Extremes  of  climate  up 
to  a  certain  point,  while  they  may  be  injurious,  and  even  destruc- 
tive to  the  weak  individuals  of  a  species,  rather  benefit  the  normally 
healthy  and  strong.  There  is  a  greater  variety  of  vegetable  and 
animal  life  in  the  extreme  climate  of  Nebraska  than  in  the  more 
moderate  and  equatable  climate  of  England.  It  even  favors  those 
gradual  changes  of  specific  characters  that  advance  the  grade  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life.  Compare,  for  example,  the  extremes  of 
climate  in  Massachusetts  and  Nebraska.  In  the  former,  a  warm, 
mild  day  is  frequently  changed  to  a  cold  one  by  a  moisture-laden 
wind  suddenly  blowing  from  the  northeast.  These  winds  blowing 
there  from  the  cold  currents  of  the  Atlantic,  that  come  from  the 
Labrador  coast,  chill  the  body  to  an  extreme  degree,  and  too  often 
sow  the  seeds  of  consumption  and  other  diseases  which  are  the  bane 
of  that  region.  The  character,  therefore,  of  the  northeast  winds 
renders  the  climate  there  a  partially  destructive  one.  The  north- 
east wind,  on  the  other  hand,  in  Nebraska,  is  dry  in  autumn  and 
winter,  and  even  in  spring  and  summer,  until  the  June  rains  come. 
And  then  they  become  laden  with  the  moisture  of  the  already 
warmed  up  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Platte.  Our  moist 
winds  here  come  from  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  are  south  and  south- 
west, rather  than  north,  east  and  northeast,  as  in  Massachusetts. 
Our  climate  is  therefore  extreme,  without  being  destructive.  Its 
health  conditions  are  the  reverse  of  those  in  the  Eastern  States. 
Our  extremes  can  be  comparable  to  the  Turkish  bath,  which  stimu- 
lates into  activity  the  functions  of  the  body. 

Nearly  everyone  who  comes  into  the  State  feels  a  general  quick- 
ening and  elasticity  of  spirits.  The  appetite  and  digestion  improve 
wonderfully.  Mind  and  body  are  lifted  up.  All  this  occurs  even 
with  the  execrably  prepared  food  eaten  in  the  most  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts. For  in  most  of  the  rural  districts,  hot  biscuit,  green  with 


150       •  PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

soda,  is  still  the  form  of  bread  usually  eaten.  Now  this  improve- 
ment in  physical  and  mental  condition  cannot  arise  simply  from 
change  of  locality.  It  must  originate  from  our  peculiarities  of 
climate.  I  have  myself  felt  in  this  State  as  I  have  never  felt  it 
elsewhere,  especially  when  camping  out, faraway  from  settlements, 
and  alcne  with  nature  and  God,  how  luxurious  existence  was,  and 
how  pleasant  life  was  intended  to  be.  One  needs  but  to  go  through 
the  fever  and  ague  stricken  districts  of  other  States,  and  then  pass 
through  the  rural  districts  of  Nebraska,  to  notice  the  contrasts  be- 
tween the  sallow  complexions  found  in  the  former  region,  and  the 
hue  of  health  and  glow  of  spirits  found  here. 

Owing  to  these  facts,  Nebraska  must  sooner  or  later  become  a 
health  resort.  In  addition  to  the  health  producing  properties  of 
the  climate,  there  are  in  various  sections  of  the  State  mineral 
\vaters  of  high  medicinal  value.  One  of  these  is  the  artesian  well 
on  the  Government  square  in  Lincoln.  It  throws  up  a  strong 
column  of  water  from  a  depth  of  a  thousand  feet.  It  is  used  in 
two  bathing  establishments  in  the  city.  In  the  one  at  the  Com- 
mercial Hotel,  besides  many  others,  over  twelve  hundred  Turkish 
baths  were  given  during  the  last  (the  first  after  opening)  year. 
Some  remarkable  cures  have  already  been  performed  here,  es- 
pecially on  rheumatic  and  neuralgic  patients:  This  water  is  also 
believe<J  to  be  specific  in  many  cases  of  dyspepsia,  constipation, 
incipient  scrofula,  skin  and  kidney  diseases.  The  water  is  strongly 
aperient. 

The  following  substances  I  have  obtained  in  making  qualitative 
tests  of  the  water.  As  the  examination  has  not  been  completed, 
the  results  are  only  proximate: 

Chloride  of  sodium  (common  salt),  oxide  and  peroxide  of  iron, 
iron  stilphuret,  magnesia  sulphate,  bicarbonate  of  magnesia,  bicar- 
bonate of  lime,  sulphate  of  lime,  sulphate  of  soda,  sulphate  of  pot- 
ash, oxide  of  manganese,  etc. 

There  are  other  springs  in  the  State  containing  various  forms  of 
sulphur,  iron,  magnesia,  soda  and  lime.  There  is  one,  remarkable 
for  its  size  and  purity,  near  Curlew,  in  Dixon  County.  Unfortun- 
ately, our  medicinal  springs  have  not  yet  been  systematically  ex- 
plored and  examined,  and  until  that  is  done,  we  cannot  even  approx- 
imate to  their  number  and  general  quality,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
artesian  well  in  Lincoln. 


HEALTHFULXESS.  151 

RESERVE   AND  Now  WASTED  FORCES  IN  NEBRASKA. 

Owing  to  the  almost  constant  movements  of  the  atmosphere  it 
can  be  much  more  extensively  employed  as  a  motive  power  than 
has  yet  been  attempted.  Wind  mills  are  in  general  use  now  for 
pumping  water  and  for  motive  power  where  little  force  is  required. 
That  it  has  capacity  to  do  much  more  than  this  is  evident  when  we 
formulate  its  force.  A  wind,  for  example,  of  three  miles  an  hour 
moves  4.40  feet  per  second, and  produces  a  pressure  of  about  thirty- 
eight  pounds  for  every  square  foot  directly  exposed  to  it.  But 
winds  that  constitute  a  stiff  breeze,  traveling  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
five  miles  an  hour,  are  not  uncommon  in  Nebraska.  This  rate  of 
motion  equals  39.67  feet  per  second  and  produces  a  pressure  of 
about  2,641  pounds  for  every  square  foot  exposed  to  its  action- 
Between  these  two  velocities  lie  the  movements  of  winds  that  could 
be  depended  on  to  propel  machinery.  Now,  remembering  that  the 
movement  of  the  winds  is  almost  constant,  and  is  felt  in  all  situa- 
tions, the  amount  of  its  wasted  force  is  seen  to  be  prodigious.  Its 
use  already,  all  over  the  west  on  farms  and  railroad  stations  for 
pumping  water  is  a  prophecy  of  its  far  more  extensive  employment 
as  a  propelling  agent  in  the  near  future.  Mechanical  ingenuity 
will  contrive  a  method  by  which  the  effect  of  the  irregularity  of  the 
winds  can  be  better  overcome.  The  wind  mills  now  used  are  al- 
ready immeasurably  better  than  those  contrived  only  a  few  years 
ago.  This  improvement  no  doubt  will  continue  until,  like  water  in 
a  mill  dam,  the  wind  itself  can  be  stored  up  for  future  use.  The' 
mechanical  engineer  is  already  familiar  with  similar  contrivances. 
Its  intermittant  character  cannot  always  be  an  obstacle  to  its  exten- 
sive use  for  driving  machinery.  It  has  one  prime  recommendation. 
It  is  cheap.  Each  year  will  therefore  see  a  great  multiplication  of 
them. 

A  still  greater  source  of  force  and  energy  and  the  the  fountain  of 
all  the  complicated'movements  on  the  earth  is  the  sun.  All  the  ex- 
hibitions of  force,  organic  and  inorganic,  chemical  or  physical,  the 
production  of  winds,  currents,  rainfall,  the  intricate  causes  that 
operate  to  produce  varieties  of  climate — all  these  are  dependent  on 
solar  radiation.  Potiillet  calculated  that  the  earth  received  every 
minute  from  the  sun  2,247  billion  units  of  heat,  which  quantity,  if 
transformed  into  mechanical  force,  "would  raise  2,247  billions  x  774 
pounds  to  the  height  of  ore  foot." 


152  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

On  the  ocean  alone  "  the  sun  raises  during  every  minute  an  aver- 
age of  not  less  than  2,000,000,000  tons  of  water  to  a  height  of  three 
and  a  half  miles — the  mean  altitude  of  the  clouds."  In  other 
words,  to  raise  this  quantity  of  water  to  the  height  of  three  and  a 
half  miles  per  minute,  would  require  the  continued  exercise  of  the 
force  of  2,757,000,000,000  horses  per  minute. 

Here  then  is  a  power  enormous  beyond  conception.  Now  such 
engineers  as  Ericson,  have  announced  the  opinion  that  an  engine 
run  by  solar  heat  is  practicable.  He  has  even  constructed  an  engine 
that  gives  uniformly  a  speed  of  240  revolutions  per  minute,  and  at 
this  rate  uses  up  only  a  part  of  the  steam  produced  by  his  solar 
generator.  His  machine  includes  a  concentrating  apparatus  by 
means  of  which  the  feeble  intensity  of  the  sun's  rays  is  increased  to 
the  degree  that  will  answer  to  produce  steam  at  a  working  pressure. 
He  has  also  shown  that  such  "  a  concentrating  apparatus  will 
abstract  in  all  latitudes  between  45°  North  and  45°  South  at  least 
three  and  a  half  heat  units  for  every  square  foot  presented  vertically 
to  the  sun's  rays."  "  With  one  hundred  square  feet  of  surface, 
eight  and  two-tenths  horse  power  would  be  developed  during  nine 
hours  between  the  above  latitudes."  In  the  latitude  of  Nebraska  it 
could  be  used  for  at  least  ten  hours  on  each  day  of  sunshine. 

Monchat  has  advanced  even  farther  than  Ericson,  and  exhibited 
a  solar  engine  at  the  Paris  exhibition  that  attracted  the  attention  of 
engineers  from  all  lands.  It  received  one  of  the  medals  of  the  ex- 
hibition. 

"  The  time  will  come,"  says  Ericson,  "when  Europe  must  stop 
her  mills  and  factories  for  want  of  coal.  Upper  Egypt,  then,  with 
her  never-ceasing  sun-power,  will  invite  the  European  manufacturer 
to  remove  his  machinery  and  erect  his  mills  on  the  firm  ground 
along  the  sides  of  the  alluvial  plain  of  the  Nile,  where  sufficient 
power  can  be  obtained  to  enable  him  to  run  more  spindles  than  a 
hundred  Manchesters."  Now  it  is  true  that  the  coal  fields  of  the 
United  States  will  not  be  exhausted  for  many  thousand  years, 
but  the  transportation  of  coal  is  costly,  and  there  is  no  reason,  if  solar 
engines  are  possible,  why  the  sections  that  are  adapted  to  them 
should  not  use  them,  especially  if  their  cost  is  much  less  than  those 
run  with  coal. 

Now  then,  in  Nebraska,  as  if  it  was  a  region  specially  reserved 
for  the  exhibition  of  the  adaptability  of  the  solar  engine  to  the  uses 
of  civilization,  there  is  a  remarkable  amount  of  .sunshine.  As  we 


HEALTHFULNESS.  153 

have  seen,  even  most  of  the  rainfall  occurs  at  night.  Only  during 
portions  of  June  and  July,  and  occasionally  the  last  weeks  in  May, 
are  there  any  continuous  rainy  or  cloudy  days.  During  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year,  the  sky  is  remarkably  clear.  All  the  stupen- 
dous sun  force  that  is  here  exhibited  is  now  wasted,  except  the 
minute  portion  that  is  used  for  the  processes  of  organic  life  and  the 
production  of  the  winds  and  rains.  These  wasted  energies  must, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  hereafter  be  utilized.  Some  time  in  the  fu- 
ture, the  manufacturing  establishments  of  the  East  can  be  run  here 
without  coal  or  water  power.  Probably  the  East,  because  of  its 
murky  skies,  can  never  change  its  motive  power.  Coal  and  water 
power  will  always  be  in  demand  there.  Here  the  now  wasted  en- 
ergies of  the  sun  will  be  utilized  to  produce  the  motive  power  need- 
ful to  manufacture  the  cotton,  woolen  and  other  fabrics  which  a 
population  of  many  millions  will  consume. 

PROBABLE  FUTURE  OF  THE  RACE  IN  NEBRASKA. 

This  question  often  suggests  itself  in  a  newly  settled  country; 
what  kind  of  an  abode  is  this  for  humanity  ?  Will  the  race  here 
go  into  decay,  remain  stationary,  or  advance?  It  is  taken  for 
granted  that  that  people  is  the  most  advanced  where  there  is  the 
greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number.  When  the  causes  that 
produce  a  great  people  are  sought,  we  invariably  find  that  they  are 
complex.  Among  them,  however,  we  always  find  some  of  the  fol- 
lowing: Good  government,  good  climate,  fertile  soil  and  a  good 
geographical  position.  Nebraska  possesses  all  of  these,  as  we  have 
seen  by  the  preceding  discussions,  in  an  eminent  degree.  That 
environment  helps  greatly  to  make  character  is  now  universally 
admitted.  The  Englishman  of  New  England,  the  Dutchman  of 
New  York,  and  the  German  of  Pennsylvania  are  all  exceedingly 
different  from  their  ancestors  of  two  centuries  ago,  and  from  their 
distant  kinsmen  in  Europe  at  the  present  day.  The  new  world 
with  its  new  conditions  has  made  a  new  order  of  men.  Wherever 
there  is  freedom  character  is  multiform.  In  the  older  States  the 
families  that  live  on  the  ridges,  on  naturally  barren  soil,  are  inferior 
in  culture  and  social  life  to  those  that  live  in  the  fertile  valleys. 
The  latter  occupy  lands  that  yield  them  a  better  return,  more 
wealth,  and  as  a  consequence  there  is  more  time  for  study,  more 
means  for  travel,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  the  amenities  of  life. 
It  requires  more  than  mere  physical  labor  to  better  the  conditions 


154  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  a  people — it  takes  money,  leisure,  incentives  to  study,  and  good 
climatic  conditions.  The  mass  of  those  communities  that  have  been 
most  distinguished  for  a  high  civilization,  and  for  leading  the 
thought  of  the  world,  have  occupied  regions  highly  favored  by 
nature.  Witness  for  example,  Mesopotamia,  Palestine,  Egypt, 
Hindoostan,  Greece,  Italy,  etc.  As  already  observed  Nebraska  is 
the  peer  in  many  particulars  of  the  best  of  these  regions.  It  has 
no  sea  coast,  but  its  soil  is  one  of  the  best,  easiest  worked  and  most 
lasting  in  the  world.  It  has  no  lofty  mountains,  but  it  has  a  variety 
of  landscape  which  for  quiet  beauty  is  unequaled.  Its  atmosphere 
is  exceptionally  clear  and  pure,  and  the  extremes  of  temperature 
are  only  such  as  are  most  promotive  of  good  health  and  energy  of 
character.  While  there  are  no  great  lakes,  there  is  a  superabun- 
dance of  fresh  water  in  creeks,  river,  springs,  and  rills.  Its  health 
conditions  never  lead  to  stolidity,  but  to  intellectual  activity. 

There  has  not  yet  been  time  for  this  climate  to  exercise  its  full 
influence  on  the  people.  That  it  will,  in  a  marked  and  happy  way, 
affect  the  people  in  the  course  of  time,  is  as  certain  as  any  other 
fact  in  nature.  The  true  Nebraskian  does  not  yet  exist,  because 
even  if  born  here  he  is  yet  too  much  affected  by  entailed  peculiari- 
ties. And  the  great  body  of  those  that  are  living  here  were  born 
and  married  in  the  east.  Our  skies,  rivers,  soils,  surroundings  are 
all  moulding  the  people,  but  they  have  not  had  time  to  perfect  the 
work.  Look  for  example  at  the  type  of  people  that  the  States 
bordering  on  the  upper  Mississippi  have  produced.  The  true  type 
of  American  character  is  no  longer  the  east,  but  the  west.  And 
this  is  true  because  while  in  the  east  there  is  more  wealth  and 
outside  polish,  in  the  west  there  is  more  originality,  more  inde- 
pendence in  manners  and  opinions,  more  freedom  from  restraint 
and  more  sincerity.  The  west  has  already  so  affected  the  life  of 
the  people  that  a  young  man  coming  here  from  the  east 
will  be  more  ambitious,  more  active,  more  successful,  more 
courageous,  and  more  of  a  man  than  if  he  had  remained  in 
his  native  State.  Absence  from  the  sea-board  does  not  lessen 
but  rather  increases  western  energy.  The  railroad  cultivates 
the  mind,  requires  as  high  an  order  of  character,  to  say  the 
least,  as  the  sea.  As  high  an  order  of  ability  is  needed  to  work 
a  railroad  train  as  to  manage  a  ship.  A  brakesman  in  character  is 
more  than  the  peer  of  the  sailor.  The  west  is  checkered  with 
railroads  which  make  the  people  sociable,  as  well  as  carry  their 


HEALTHFULNESS.  155 

products  to  distant  regions.  And  if,  as  some  claim,  there  is  less 
devotion  to  hard  physical  labor,  there  is,  on  the  whole,  more 
reading,  more  thinking,  more  intelligence. 

But  the  Missouri  Valley  is  greatly  different  from  the  Mississippi. 
In  its  upper  portions  at  least,  there  are  still  clearer  skies,  a  dryer 
atmosphere,  more  freedom  from  malaria,  and  is  more  elevated. 
Here  the  American  character  is  subject'ed  to  new  influences  and 
will  be  still  farther  specialized,  and  will  necessarily  reach  a  still 
higher  stage. 

What  then  may  we  legitimately  expect  of  the  people  in  Nebraska 
in  the  future?  We  have  a  right  to  expect  that  our  school  system 
will  reach  the  highest  possible  stage  of  advancement — that  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  will  become  remarkable  for  their  intellec- 
tual brightness  and  quickness.  Along  with  this  mental  develop- 
ment and  synchronizing  with  it,  there  will  be  developed  a  healthy 
vigorous  and  beautiful  race  of  men  and  women.  Art  culture  will 
then  receive  the  attention  which  it  deserves.  Music,  painting,  and 
sculpture  will  be  cherished  and  cultivated  for  their  own  sake.  The 
marvelous  richness  of  our  soils  will  give  a  true  and  lasting  basis  for 
prosperity  and  wealth.  For  be  it  remembered  that  agriculture  in 
all  its  branches,  endures  the  tests  of  time  better  than  any  other 
industry.  It  is  also  the  best  school  of  virtue  for  a  nation.  Happy 
the  children  that  are  trained  to  industry  on  a  farm.  More  men  and 
women  of  high  character  and  endowments  come  from  the  farm, 
than  from  any  other  station.  It  is  nearest  to  the  heart  of  nature  and 
nature's  God.  Though  yet  in  its  infancy,  all  these  agencies  for  the 
prosperity  and  well-being  of  Nebraska  are  steadily  at  work,  and  in 
the  fullness  of  time  will  blossom  into  fullfilment  of  its  early  promise. 


PART  SECOND.— GEOLOGY. 


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PART  SECOND.— GEOLOGY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CARBONIFEROUS  AGE  IN  NEBRASKA. 

Preceding  Conditions. — Carboniferous  Age  Proper. — Age  of  the  Nebraska 
Rocks. — 4  Different  Opinion. — Section  at  Nebraska  City. — Coal  Features  of 
the  Carboniferous  Age  in  Nebraska. — Vegetation  of  the  Coal  Age. — Animal 
Life  of  the  Coal  Age. — Climate  of  the  Coal  Age. — Permian  Age. — Its  Tran- 
sition Character. — Character  of  the  Permian  Rocks. 

PRECEDING   CONDITIONS. 

IT  does  not  enter  into  the  plan  of  this  work  to  treat  of  the 
early  condition  of  the  globe,  or  even  to  discuss  the  earlier 
periods  of  Palaeozoic  times.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  our  globe 
was  once  companion  star  to  the  sun,  and  that  after  it  had  cooled 
down  sufficiently,  the  oceans  were  at  first  probably  universal. 
Then  came  a  nameless  period  when  lofty  uplands  were  formed 
towards  the  far  north  that  supplied  the  materials  for  the  old  sea 
bottoms  that  were  afterwards  uplifted .  and  became  known  as  the 
Archaeon  highlands  of  Canada  and  the  United  States.  The  two- 
well  marked  divisions  of  these  old  deposits  are  known  as  Lau- 
rentian  and  Huronian  rocks.  As  the  rocks  of  these  ages  still  left 
in  Canada  are  forty  thousand  feet  thick,  and  at  least  as  extensive  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierras,  and  still  greater  in  Bohemia 
and  Bavaria,  after  being  subjected  to  numberless  ages  of  erosion, 
the  time  represented  by  their  deposition  was  greater,  probably,  than 
the  whole  of  geological  history  since  their  close.  So  far  as  we  now 
know,  during  all  this  immense  age  there  was  no  dry  land  in  Ne- 
braska. 

Then  followed  what  the  geologists  call  Palaeozoic  times,  because 

of  the  antique  or  old  life  form  of  all  the  animals  and  plants   in  the 

old  world.     The  earlier  portions  are   known  as   the  Silurian   ages, 

during  which  invertebrate  life  was  dominant,  and  the  continent  was 

ii 


162  GEOLOGY. 

growing  and  extending  southward  from  its  Archaeon  nucleus.  The 
next  age,  called  often  the  age  of  fishes,  and  also  known  as  the  De- 
vonian, followed,  but  neither  in  this  or  in  the  preceding  Silurian 
was  any  dry  land  in  Nebraska.  By  the  close  of  this  age,  however, 
the  continent  in  its  southern  extension  had  reached  the  south  line 
of  what  is  now  New  York,  and  many  islands  also  existed  still 
farther  south,  and  in  some  places  west.  The  Appalachian  region 
seemed  to  have  been  rich  in  low  islands,  covered  with  a  colossal 
vegetation.  The  sub  carboniferoos  period,  which  had  such  a  re- 
markable development  in  some  sections  of  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Iowa 
and  Missouri,  and  which  was  the  stage  preparatory  to  the  carbon- 
iferous period  proper,  is  not  represented  by  any  known  deposits  in 
Nebraska.*  Even  the  millstone  grit  so  common  in  the  East,  under 
the  coal,  has  not  here  been  found.  Whether  it  exists  at  all  in  this 
region  can  only  be  ascertained  when  borings  or  shafts  reach  its 
geological  equivalent.  We  come  now  to 

The  Carboniferous  Age  Ptoper. — This  is  a  geological  age  of  the 
most  absorbing  interest,  because  of  the  general  character  of  the 
time,  and  because  during  its  progress  the  first  dry  land  appeared  in 
Nebraska.  The  carboniferous  age  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
in  all  the  history  of  the  globe,  for  during  its  progress  the  thickest, 
most  extensive  and  most  valuable  of  all  the  coal  beds  were  formed. 
It  has  excited  the  most  profound  interest  alike  of  the  political  econ- 
omist, the  statesman,  the  chemist  and  the  geologist. 

To  understand  the  probable  history  of  geological  events  in  Ne- 
braska during  this  period,  let  us  look  at  the  oldest  coal  beds  that 
are  nearest  to  us.  These  are  the  beds  along  the  Des  Moines  River 
and  some  of  its  tributaries  extending  westward  within  from  seventy- 
five  to  one  hundred  miles  of  the  Missouri.  The  coal  here,  which 
Dr.  White  regards  as  of  Lower  Carboniferous  age,  is  from  one  to 
seven  feet  in  thickness.  Worthen  first,  and  then  Dr.  White  to  a 
much  greater  extent,  investigated  these  beds.  Meek  also  carefully 
re-examined  them.  Subsequently  I  passed  over  the  same  region, 
attempting  as  Meek  and  White  had  done  before  me,  to  estimate  the 
thickness  of  the  rocks  that  lapped  over  the  coal  bearing  strata  as 
far  west  as  the  farther  or  Nebraska  shore  of  the  Missouri.  Meek's 
objective  point  was  Nebraska  City,  and  mine  was  Plattsmouth.  I 
shall  therefore  use  Meek's  observations  to  supplement  my  own. 


*The  opinion  of  Marcou  and  Geinitz  (Bulleton  Geological  Society  of  France,  XXL,  etc., 
New  Series),  that  some  of  our  Nebraska  rocks  are  sub-carboniferous,  was  shown  long  ago,  by 
Meek,  to  be  a  mistake. 


CARBONIFEROUS    AGE.  163 

At  and  near  Des  Moines  there  is  no  millstone  grit  such  as  is 
found  at  this  horizon  farther  east,  and  therefore  the  lower  coal  beds 
rest,  as  White  and  Meek  have  observed,  on  the  sub-carboniferous 
rocks.  •  West  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  as  also  shown  by  these  ge- 
ologists, the  coal  measures  belong  to  a  higher  geological  horizon, 
and  most  probably  to  the  middle  series,  though  there  is  no  serious 
palasontological  or  physical  break  between  these  and  the  lower 
rocks  of  this  age.  On  going  southwestward  from  the  Des  Moines, 
in  the  deep  valley  of  Middle  River,  which  lies  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  below  the  plain,  the  rocks  here  dipping  slightly  to- 
wards the  southwest.  Here  the  increasing  thickness  of  the  upper 
coal  measure  beds  can  be  distinctly  seen.  The  upper  bed  of  the 
middle  series  is  last  seen  at  Winterset,  at  the  very  bottom  of  the 
valley,  and  all  the  beds  above  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  belong 
to  the  still  higher  series,  consisting  largely  of  heavy  beds  of  light 
yellow  limestone,  sandy  micaceous  shale,  black  laminated  shale, 
blue,  drab  and  reddish  clays,  and  occasionally  a  few  inches  of  im- 
pure coal.  In  these  upper  beds  are  found  almost  identically  the 
same  fossils  as  on  the  Nebraska  side  of  the  Missouri.  Amon<r 

o 

these  is  the  curious  fossil  {Fusilina  cylindrical),  which  is  so  often 
mistaken  for  fossil  rice  or  wTheat.  Twenty-three  additional  fossils 
are  characteristic  of  these  two  sections.  On  leaving  this  valley,  no 
more  exposures  of  the  middle  series  are  visible,  the  inclination  of 
the  strata  towards  the  southwest  taking  these  beds  below  the  deepest 
eroded  valleys.  At  various  points,  however,  between  this  place  and 
the  Missouri,  opposite  Plattsmouth,  the  upper  beds  are  exposed,  and 
can  be  readily  identified  by  their  contained  fossils.  Dr.  White,  also, 
who  made  a  critical  examination  of  the  whole  region,  is  confident 
that  he  can  identify  the  upper  members  of  the  Winterset  exposures 
in  the  Missouri  bluffs  on  the  Iowa  side  between  Nebraska  City  and 
Plattsmouth.  However  that  may  be,  there  is  no  doubt,  judging 
from  the  evidence  of  fossils,  and  the  physical  character  of  the  rocks, 
that  the  series  on  both  sides  of  the  Missouri,  between  the  south  line 
of  the  State  and  Omaha,  belongs  to  the  upper  series  of  the  coal 
measures.  According  to  Dr.  White,  the  nearest  visible  series  of  the 
middle  coal  measures  to  the  Missouri  is  at  a  point  in  Iowa  nearly 
due  east  from  Blair,  at  a  distance  of  about  sixtv  miles.  Having 

*/  o 

also  myself  gone  over  and  carefully  examined  these  exposures,  the 
conviction  was  forced  on  me  that  White  and  Meek  are  proximately 
correct  in  their  determinations  of  the  horizons  of  these  rocks.  It  is 
therefore  definitely  established  that  on  the  Nebraska  side,  as  far  as 


164 


GEOLOGY. 


the  coal  measures  extend  from  above  Omaha,  near  old  Fort  Cal- 
houn,  to  the  southeast  corner  of  the  State,  the  rocks  are  of  Upper 
Carboniferous  Age. 

A  Different  Opinion. — In  1866  Prof.  Geinitz,  of  Dresden,  made  a 
report  on  carboniferous  fossils  which  were  collected  in  Nebraska 
mainly  by  Prof.  Marcou,  in  which  he  expressed  the  conviction  that 
the  rocks  along  the  Missouri  belong  in  part  to  the  Lower  Car- 
boniferous and  in  part  to  the  Permian.  He  evidently  made  this- 
mistake,  as  Meek  has  shown,  by  examining  an  imperfect  series- 
of  fossils,  and  by  a  lack  of  acquaintance  with  the  range  of  species 
in  the  Palasozoic  of  this  country.*  In  order  to  exhibit  the  facts  on 
which  he  bases  these  references  the  following  section  is  given  as- 
taken  at  Nebraska  City. 

Section  Exposed  at  Nebraska  City  Landing. 


NATURE  OF  STRATA. 


Thickness. 


Loess  deposit,  Grayish  yellow 00  feet. 

D.           Yellowish-gray  micaceous,  soft  sandstone,  laminated,   j 
sometimes  ripple-marked,  except  about  14  inches  of  .-Dint- 
times  hard  and  compact  stone  at  bottom,  with  fragments 
of  plants 10  feet. 

,  __ 

C.  Drab,  ash,  and  lead-colored,  and  brownish  clays  and 
near  the  middle  a  ten  inch,  hard  bluish-gray,  clayey, 
limey  layer,  becoming  rusty  on  exposure.  Fossils  nu- 
merous   ;  30  feet. 

1 

B.           Several  beds  of  hard  light  grayish,  and  yellowish  lime  j 
stone  in  layers  of  from  five  to  twenty  inches  thick,  with  ' 
soft,  marly  clay  seams  and  partings.    Fossils  numerous 
especially  fusilina,  etc 13  feet. 

A.  («)  Lead — grayish  and  greenish  clay,  four  feet. 

(A)  Reddish  brown  ferruginous,  slightly  gritty,  indu- 
rated clay,  four  feet  expo>ed  above  high  water j      8  feet. 

: : 2 J _ 

Total  below  drift 70  feet. 

LJ 

*  See  Meek's  report  iu  "  Hayden's  Final  Report  on  Geological  Survey  of  Nebraska,"  p.  S3. 
t  This  section  i*  slightly  different  from  that  of  Meek  aud  Marcou.  because  taken   a  little 
below  theirt*. 


CARBONIFEROUS    AGE.  165 

Now  the  thirty  fossils  in  bed  3,  and  the  sixty-six  in  bed  B,  of  this 
section  are  all  of  them  in  the  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Missouri  coal 
fields  characteristic  of  the  Upper  Carboniferous  and  not  of  the 
Permian,  though  some  of  the  genera  are  known  to  pass  into  it. 
They  cannot  therefore  be  Permian,  as  Marco u  and  Geinitz  supposed. 
The  beds,  on  the  other  hand,  at  Bellevue  and  Omaha  which  they  re- 
ferred to  the  Sub-carboniferous,  contained  the  characteristic  organic 
forms  that  characterize  the  true  Upper  Carboniferous  everywhere 
else  in  this  country.  These  distinguished  foreign  geologists  at- 
.tempted  to  generalize  on  American  rocks  by  the  principles  that 
interpret  aright  European  geology,  and  hence  they  were  led  into  a 
blunder.  Here,  almost  universally  the  vertical  range  of  species  is 
much  greater  than  in  Europe.  American  geology  must  be  studied 
independently  of  European  systems,  or  at  least  cannot  be  interpreted 
by  them. 

Coal. — Thus  far  no  thick  workable  beds  of  Coal  have  been  found 
in  our  carboniferous  measures.  The  question  rises  whether  there 
is  any  probability  of  any  valuable  beds  being  found  anywhere  in 
the  State.  Truth  compels  the  admission  that  such  a  result  is  un- 
certain and  even  doubtful. 

Mr.  Broadhead,  one  of  the  State  Geologists  of  Missouri,  has  long 
since  reached  that  conclusion  with  reference  to  the  Upper  Carbon- 
iferous measures  of  that  State,  where,  owing  to  changes  of  level  and 
numerous  natural  exposures  a  great  thickness  of  these  beds  had 
early  and  easily  been  examined  by  him.  He  gives  sections  through 
these  rocks  extending  to  a  depth  of  nearly  two  thousand  feet  before 
reaching  coal  two  and  a  half  feet  thick,  all  above  being  only  from 
a  few  inches  to  two  feet  in  thickness.  Dr.  White's  numerous  sec- 
tions observed  in  many  places  west  of  Winterset  to  the  Missouri 
show  clearly  that  the  upper  series  thicken  westward  and  south- 
westward,  and  not  by  the  super-position  of  newer  beds,  but  simply 
by  the  thickening  of  those  seen  at  that  place.  At  a  few  places  a 
considerable  thickness  of  these  upper  beds  have  also  been  examined 
in  Nebraska  along  the  Missouri,  and  with  the  same  result  as  in 
Missouri  and  Iowa.  Mr.  Croxton,  as  early  as  1865,  made  an  arte- 
sian boring  near  Nebraska  City,  to  the  depth  of  three  hundred  and 
forty-four  feet.  Shales,  limestones,  micaceous  sandstones  and  cal- 
careous sandstones  constituted  the  materials  passed  through,  but  no 
indications  of  coal  were  met  until  at  the  depth  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  feet,  a  bed  fifteen  inches  thick  was  struck.  None  was 


166  GEOLOGY. 

struck  after  that.  An  artesian  boring  has  also  recently  been  made 
near  the  west  end  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  bridge  at  Omaha, 
to  a  depth  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  This  point,  which  is  the 
lowest  yet  reached  along  the  river  in  Nebraska,  by  borings,  was- 
struck  without  encountering  any  beds  of  coal.  For  this  depth 
therefore  these  upper  measures,  at  least  at  this  place  are  barren. 
At  Lincoln,  on  the  public  square,  the  artesian  boring  was  put  down 
to  the  depth  of  a  trifle  over  a  thousand  feet.  A  little  before  this 
point  was  reached  the  contractor,  Mr.  Eaton,  reported  going 
through  a  thirty  inch  bed  of  coal.  As  Lincoln  is  at  least  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  feet  above  the  level  of  Omaha,  it  is  clear  that  the 
boring  of  the  Union  Pacific  well  at  that  place  did  not  reach  the 
horizon  of  the  coal  bed  reported  by  Mr.  Eaton.  This  bed  of  coal 
is  probably  in  the  lower  coal  measures  and  is  the  geological  equi- 
valent of  the  Des  Moines  beds.  These  Des  Moines  coal  beds  or 
their  equivalent  would  therefore  be  struck  at  Plattsmouth  some- 
where between  eight  hundred  and  one  thousand  feet  below  the 
surface.  According  to  my  own  calculations  made  in  traversing  the 
space  between  Des  Moines  and  the  Missouri,  it  would  be  about 
nine  hundred  feet.  Prof.  Meek  believed  that  Omaha,  where  the 
upper  coal  measures  are  exposed  at  a  lower  horizon,  borings  would 
strike  the  geological  equivalent  of  the  Des  Moines  beds  under  one 
thousand  feet,  and  at  still  greater  depth  further  down  the  river.. 
Owing  to  the  facts  developed  by  the  artesian  boring  at  Lincoln,  it 
is  probable  that  all  these  estimates  were  too  high  and  that  these 
Des  Moines  coal  beds  or  their  equivalents  would  be  reached 
between  Plattsmouth  and  Omaha  at  a  depth  of  between  eight  and 
nine  hundred  feet. 

The  question  then  returns  whether  there  are  or  can  be  no  good 
workable  beds  of  coal  anywhere  in  these  Upper  Measures.  The 
old  Nuckolls  coal  bed,  worked  near  Rulo,  in  Pawnee  County,  in 
Otoe  County,  and  at  several  places  in  Cass  and  Johnson  counties,, 
ranges  from  eight  to  eighteen  inches  in  thickness,  and  in  places  is  a 
fair  article  of  coal.  The  bed  at  Aspinwall,  which  is  from  twenty- 
two  to  twenty-four  inches  thick,  is  not  certainly  its  geological  equiv- 
alent. The  same  remark  applies  to  a  comparatively  pure  bed  of 
light  coal,  from  eighteen  inches  to  two  feet  in  thickness,  on  the  In- 
dian Reservation  south  of  Rulo,  near  the  State  line.  But  no  beds 
thicker  than  these  have  yet  been  found  in  these  Upper  coal  measures, 
and  as  we  have  seen,  the  probabilities  are  against  their  existence. 


CARBONIFEROUS    AGE.  167 

If  extensive  basins  of  coal  existed  in  them  they  probably  would 
have  been  observed  in  Missouri,  where  they  have  been  more  thor- 
oughly explored.  With  the  Lower  Coal  Measures  the  case  stands 
different.  These  are  the  coal  bearing  measures  in  Iowa  and  Mis- 
souri, and  at  least  in  one  place  (Lincoln),  where  they  have  been 
penetrated,  a  respectable  coal  bed  was  reported.  All  the  chances 
then  are  in  favor  of  finding  large  workable  beds  at  this  horizon. 
This  is  a  question  that  should  speedily  be  settled  at  public  expense. 
If  there  are  workable  beds,  the  State  should  have  the  benefit  of  it  as- 
soon  as  possible.  An  artesian  boring  within  six  miles  of  the  Platte 
River,  near  its  mouth,  to  a  depth  of  one  thousand  feet;  another  near 
Nebraska  City  and  one  near  Rulo,  would  settle  this  question*. 

Features  of  the  Carboniferous  Age  in  Nebraska. — All  the 
students  of  geology  admit  that  the  Carboniferous  age  was  a  very 
long  one — an  age  whose  length  could  not  be  measured  by  thous- 
ands, but  by  millions  of  years.  During  the  greater  part  of  this 
great  age,  Nebraska  was  occupied  by  an  arm  of  the  ocean.  Some- 
times for  long  periods  this  sea  was  turbulent,  as  is  indicated  by  the 
rocks,  which  so  generally  change  their  character  within  a  few 
miles.  A  sand  rock  often,  when  followed  for  a  few  miles,  changes 
to  a  shale,  then  to  indurated  variously  colored  clays,  and  then  a  con- 
glomerate. Owing  to  this  feature,  the  exact  equivalent  of  the  rocks 
at  widely  different  stations  is  hard  to  distinguish,  except  -along  river 
bluffs,  where  the  strata  are  exposed  for  long  distances.  The  lime- 
stones having  been  formed  in  deep  water,  are  more  constant  in 
character  over  extensive  areas,  but  even  these  sometimes  exhibit 
sudden  transition  characters.  They  present  various  forms  and  col- 
ors, such  as  silicates  of  lime  and  magnesia,  nearly  pure  limestone, 
yellow,  gray  and  white  limestone,  and  shaly,  rotten  limestone. 
Many  of  the  shales  and  conglomerates  exhibit  the  character  of  off- 
shore deposits.  If  future  borings  brings  to  light  beds  of  coal  in  the 
lower  coal  measures,  it  will  be  proof  of  the  existence  at  that  time 
of  dry  land  near  by,  and  of  a  boggy,  swampy  condition  on  the  sites 
where  they  are  now  found.  As  one  foot  of  bituminous  coal  rep- 
resents from  nine  to  eleven  feet  of  original  peat,  and  many  centuries 
are  required  for  the  formation  of  such  an  amount  of  vegetable 
matter,  and  as  these  beds  represent  only  an  infinitesimal  amount  of 
the  time  during  which  the  events  of  this  age  were  in  progress,  it  is 


*See  on  the  subject  of  this  section,  Meek's  Report  in  the  Hayden  Surveys. 


168  GEOLOGY. 

additional  proof  that  its  length  was  beyond  all  calculation.  But 
during  its  progress,  deep  seas  and  shallow  seas,  quiet  seas  and  tur- 
bulent seas,  and  vast  bogs  and  swamps  near  to  slightly  elevated 
land  masses,  in  turn  predominated. 

Vegetation. — The  vegetation  of  the  Carboniferous  age  was  re- 
markable for  its  luxuriance  and  its  antique  form.  In  organization 
it  was  below  the  high  modern  types,  but  many  of  its  forms  were 
exquisitely  beautiful,  synthetic  and  complex. 

The  conifers  that  then  existed,  and  which  were  the  most  advanced 
in  type  of  all  the  vegetable  forms,  flourished  mainly  on  the  uplands. 
The  most  of  them  were  closely  related  to  Araucarian  pines,  which 
still  flourish  in  low  latitudes  and  mainly  south  of  the  equator.  The 
fern  family,  of  which  a  few  diminutive  representatives  still  linger 
among  us,  culminated  in  that  age,  many  species  growing  to  the 
dimensions  of  trees,  and  with  a  gracefulness  and  beauty  unsur- 
passed by  any  vegetable  form  at  the  present  day.  Many  hundreds 
of  species  flourished  over  the  -forming  coal  fields  of  the  west.  In 
fact,  one-half  of  the  coal  plants  were  probably  ferns.  The  calamites 
of  that  day,  which  grew  to  tree  size,  were  also  abundant.  The 
scouring  rushes  (Equtsetae),  which  seldom  reach  over  one  or  two 
feet  in  height,  are  their  modern  representatives.  Two  great  orders,, 
more  abundant  in  the  number  of  individuals  than  any  others,  the 
Lepidodendrids  and  Sigillaria  are  no  longer  in  existence.  They, 
along  with  the  calamites,  formed  a  large  part  of  the  material  of  the 
coal.  The  Lepidodendrids  had  a  dense  bark,  underneath  which 
was  a  dense  mass  of  loose  tissue,  through  the  centre  of  which  ran 
a  small  cylinder  with  a  distinct  pith.  Such  a  structure  unfitted  it 
For  anything  like  bearing  timber,  but  adapted  it  most  admirably, 
when  flattened  down,  for  flakes  of  coal.  The  sigillarids,  with 
"  trunks  fluted  like  Corinthian  columns,"  and  ornamented  with  seal- 
like  impressions  in  vertical  ranks,  and  "  with  few  large  branches 
and  long  needle-like,  tapering  leaves,"  were  unfitted  for  anything 
except  to  minister  to  the  beautiful  and  to  make  coal.  It  is  remark- 
able that  in  that  distant  past,  long  ages  before  man  appeared,  the 
jungles  and  forests  of  the  globe  were  as  remarkable  for  beautiful 
forms  as  the  woodlands  of  to-day.  The  Deity,  however,  was  there 
to  enjoy  it. 

Animal  Life. — Animal  life  during  this  age  was  abundant,  though, 
as  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  the  forms  were  mostly  antiquated. 
One  of  the  most  abundant  of  all  in  individuals  was  the  curious  little 


CARBONIFEROUS    AGE.  169 

animal,  already  referred  to,  and  which  is  frequently  called  fossil 
wheat  or  rice.  It  is,  however,  a  lowly  animal,  classed  with  the 
protozoans,  and  known  a&Fusilina  cylindrica.  The  shell  is  small, 
half  cylindrical  and  bluntly  pointed  at  the  end,  and  averaging  about 
the  .size  of  a  grain  of  rice.  Its  shell  is  composed  of  seven  or  eight 
closely  coiled  whorls.  Unlike  its  condition  in  Europe,  it  here 
ranges  all  through  the  coal  measures.  It  is  questionable  whether 
it  is  anywhere  in  America  as  abundant  as  it  is  here  in  Nebraska. 
In  Johnson  County  in  many  places  around  Tecumseh,  it  constitutes 
almost  the  entire  fabric  of  many  rocks,  often  from  four  to  ten  feet 
in  thickness.  It  is  often  present  in  enormous  numbers  in  shale, 
and  where  it  is  decomposed,  hundreds  can  be  picked  up,  already  by 
the  decomposition  of  the  matrix  lying  loose  and  cleansed  ready  to 
be  placed  in  a  cabinet.  All  along  the  carboniferous  exposures  in 
Nebraska,  it  is  abundant,  in  limestone,  sand  sto-ne  and  shale.  The 
massive  compact  limestone  from  Stout's  quarry,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Platte,  at  South  Bend,  contains  immense  numbers  of  these 
-Fusilina,  which  gives  the  rock  great  beauty  when  polished. 

Corals,  which  are  now  confined  to  low  latitudes,  were  abundant 
in  Nebraska  during  Carboniferous  times.  Five  species  have  thus 
far  been  identified  here.  The  most  characteristic  grew  into  a 
curious  form  remotely  resembling  a  short  ram's  horn.  It  is  known 
by  the  name  of  Campophyllum  torquium.  A  loose  bed  of  shale  in 
the  bluffs  at  Rock  Bluffs  contains  an  immense  number  of  them. 

The  Crinoids  were  represented  by  seven  species  at  least,  and 
some  of  them  existed  in  great  numbers.  While  the  heads  of  these 
sea  lilies,  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  are  only  occasionally  found, 
owing  no  doubt  to  their  original  fragile  character,  their  screw-like 
stems  are  abundant  in  all  the  rocks. 

As  elsewhere  during  Carboniferous  times  molluscan  life  flourished 
here.  The  Polyzoa  were  represented  by  eight,  and  the  Branchi- 
opods  by  twenty  six  species,  of  which  eight  were  Producti.* 
Among  these  one  known  as  Productus  Semireti(ulatus  is  quite  large 
and  was  one  of  the  most  abundant  animals  in  the^e  old  Carbon- 
iferous seas.  Those  known  as  P.  longispinus,  P.  prattenianus,  and 
P.  Nebraskensis  are  also  abundant.  Two  species  of  thin  flat  shells 
called  chonetes  granulifera  and  C. glabra,  make  up  the  almost  entire 
mass  of  some  limestone  rock  at  Plattsmouth  and  other  places  along 
the  Missouri.  No  shell  is  perhaps  so  widely  dispersed  as  the  one 


*The  Producti  are  now  mostly  classed  with  the  Articulata. 


1 70  GEOLOGY. 

called  Athyrus  subtilita.  It  occurs  in  almost  every  layer  of  the 
Carboniferous  rocks  and  of  many  sizes.  Among  the  Spirifers 
the  most  abundant  and  beautiful  is  6".  cameratus.  Lamellibranchs 
(two  valved  shells  with  gills  in  laminae  on  the  sides)  were  repre- 
sented in  Nebraska  during  this  age  by  at  least  forty  species.  The 
Gasteropods  (one  valved,  like  snails.  Belly  creepers)  were 
abundant  in  individuals  and  species,  not  less  than  eighteen  forms 
having  thus  far  been  identified.  Of  chambered  shells  there  was 
one  strait  species  {Orthoceras  cribrosum)  and  two  coiled  ones, 
{Nautilus  occidentals  and  N.  ponderosd). 

Of  the  five  species  of  Crustaceans  found  fossil  in  these  rocks 
three  are  trilobites  of  the  genus  Phillipsia. 

Vertebrate  life  so  far  as  is  now  known  was  represented  here  in 
Carboniferous  times  principally  by  fishes,  of  which  eight  species 
have  been  described  by  Orestes  St.  John.  Many  more  have  been 
found  which  have  not  yet  been  identified. 

Climate. — The  vegetable  and  animal  life  of  the  Carboniferous 
Age  indicates  that  its  climate  was  not  subject  to  extremes,  at  least 
during  the  epochs  when  the  rocks  were  deposited,  whatever  it  may 
have  been  during  the  transition  intervals.  It  was  neither  intensely 
hot  nor  cold.  It  was  just  such  a  climate  as  a  constantly  murky, 
cloudy  atmosphere,  over  semi-continental  levels  and  flats  would 
naturally  produce.*  Tyndall  has  shown  that  a  slight  addition  to 
our  atmosphere  of  carbonic  dioxide  would  raise  its  mean  tempera- 
ture many  degrees.  If  our  atmosphere  then,  at  that  time,  as  many 
geologists  believe,  contained  the  greater  part  of  the  coal  deposits 
of  the  globe  in  the  form  of  carbonic  dioxide  gas,  it  would  have 
made  it  a  huge  hot  house.  This  would  account  for  the  uniformly 
warm  temperature  that  then  existed  far  into  the  arctic  regions. 

CLOSE  OF  THE  CARBONIFKROUS  AGE. 

In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  continent  the  Carboniferous  Age 
was  evidently  closed  by  the  Appalachian  revolution.  This  great 
uplift  was  evidently  continental  in  character,  the  level  of  the  land 
on  each  side  being  raised  along  with  it.  This  was  no  sudden  con- 
vulsion. The  Appalachians  commenced  to  rise  long  before  the 
close  of  the  age  and  during  its  progress  a  point  was  reached  when 
the  old  conditions  were  passed  and  new  ones  inaugurated.  Vege- 


*The  theory  that  the  Coal  Age  was  produced  by  a  period  of  high  eccentricity  of  the  earth'* 
orbit,  during  times  similar  to  the  subsequent  glacial  ages  is  best  discussed  in  CrolPs  work  o» 
"  Climate  and  Time." 


CARBONIFEROUS    AGE.  171 

table  and  animal  life  partook  of  the  change  and  the  whole  move- 
ment inaugurated  or  constituted 

THE  PERMIAN  AGE. 

This  age  was  the  last  volume  in  the  history  of  Palaeozoic  life. 
The  great  Appalachian  revolution  was  only  partially  completed, 
for  the  upward  movement  still  continued.  The  peculiarities  of  the 
coal  age  had  ceased,  but  its  impress  was  left  on  Permian  times. 
While  the  upward  movement  was  advancing  towards  completion, 
at  many  places,  especially  in  Europe  and  Asia,  around  the  borders 
of  the  old  coal  fields,  depressions  still  exi.-ted  for  extensive  seas 
which  received  the  sediments  that  entombed  and  preserved  the  or- 
ganic remains  of  the  age.  Hence  we  have  records  of  the  earlier 
part  of  the  age,  but  none  of  its  latter  portion,  because  the  conti- 
nents reached  such  an  elevation  that  all  the  seas  were  drained,  and 
no  place  was  left  to  stow  away  the  debris  and  worn  out  life  of  the 
period.  The  process  of  uplifting,  therefore,  was  continued  until 
the  continent  was  raised  far  above  its  present  level,  during  which 
none  of  its  memorials  could  be  preserved.  The  whole  latter  por- 
tion, therefore,  of  the  Permian,  a  portion  of  time  incalculably  long, 
is  a  lost  interval  in  geological  history.  For  the  first  time  in  geo- 
logical history  the  conditions  were  favorable  for  the  complete 
drainage  of  the  continent.  Lofty  mountains  produced  great  rivers 
and  steep  inclinations  towards  the  sea.  Clear  skies,  took  the  place  of 
murky  ones  in  the  previous  age.  The  seasons  gradually  became 
more  changeable  and  varied.  The  old  vegetable  and  animal  life 
was  not  adapted  to  these  conditions  and  hence  it  had. to  change  or 
perish.  As  a  matter  of  fact  during  this  last  interval  occurred  those 
mighty  changes  in  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  globe  which  trans- 
formed the  Palaeozoic  life  into  the  middle  or  Mesozoic  world. 

In  the  United  States  the  Permian  deposits  occur  mainly  in  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska.  Here  the  western  boundary  of  the  Permian 
passes  a  little  west  of  south,  a  few  miles  east  of  Lincoln,  extending 
to  Beatrice,  and  thence  into  Kansas.  Opposite  Lincoln  it  is  only  a 
few  miles  broad,  but  widens  going  southwest  and  through  Kansas. 
Towards  the  west  at  Lincoln  and  Beatrice  it  passes  under  the 
Dakota  group  of  the  cretaceous.  It  is,  however,  as  already  inti- 
mated, only  the  lower  Permian  that  is  here  represented.  In  the 
earlier  Permian  this  portion  of  the  continent  was  not  raised  above 
the  old  carboniferous  seas,  and  of  course  it  received  the  sediments 
brought  down  by  the  rivers  and  creeks  from  lands  sloping  towards 


172  GEOLOGY. 

the  west  on  the  east,  north  and  northeast.  These  lands  were  partial- 
ly the  upraised  carboniferous  sea  bottoms.  As  elsewhere,  the  pro- 
gress of  elevation  left  the  latter  Permian  here  without  any  memorials 
"of  its  existence. 

It  is  possible  that  in  some  section  of  the  old  world,  not  yet  geo- 
logically explored,  remnants  of  this  as  yet  lost  interval  will  be  re- 
covered, or  discovered.  If  so,  we  will  no  longer  be  compelled  as 
now  to  people  this  age  with  the  changing  life  that  then  must  have 
existed.  The  old  notion  of  cataclysmic  changes  of  sufficient  force 
to  destroy  all  life,  and  subsequently  entirely  new  creations  has  long 
since  been  abandoned.  "Nature  rarely  turns  a  sharp  corner." 
Life  has  not  ceased  on  the  globe  since  it  began.  In  obedience  to 
new  conditions  it  has  ever  been  changing  into  new  forms.  And  in 
no  period  of  world  history  have  the  transformations  been  so  great 
as  during  the  Permian  Age. 

Character  of  the  Permian  Rocks. — Near  and  around  Beatrice 
there  are  many  exposures  of  yellowish,  occasionally  bluish  magne- 
sian  limestone,  full  of  geode  cavities  lined  writh  cale  spar.*  This 
rock  is  arranged  in  layers  from  four  inches  to  two  feet  thick;  and 
the  whole  series  of  strata  are  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet  thick. 
Below  this  there  is  a  bed  of  yellow  compact  limestone  from  eighteen 
inches  to  three  feet  thick.  Next  below,  there  is  a  thickness  of  from 
eight  to  twelve  feet  of  a  dark  grayish  clayey  limestone,  also  full  of 
geode  cavities,  lined  with  crystals  of  cale  spar,  and  sometimes  of 
silica  or  silicate  of  lime.  This  stratum  often  becomes  light  colored 
on  exposure  to  the  air.  Occasionally  it  becomes  massive  cream 
colored  limestone.  Wherever,  therefore,  such  beds  as  thus  de- 
scribed are  found  in  Nebraska,  bordering  the  Upper  Carboniferous 
rocks,  they  invariably  indicate  our  Permian  deposits.  Towards  the 
east,  in  Pawnee  County, they  runout,  as  the  carboniferous  then  be- 
comes the  surface  rock,  which,  on  the  contrary,  in  a  westward 
direction,  run  under  the  Permian.  Above  the  first  of  these  Per- 
mian rocks  there  is  a  bed  of  variegated  clay,  and  sometimes  of  pot- 
ter's clay,  whose  geological  age  is  uncertain,  but  which  probably 
belongs  to  the  Dakota  Group  of  Cretaceous  rocks,  w^hich  comes  in 
next  above.  This  Dakota  Group,  itself,  can  be  recognized  by  its 
dark  gray,  brownish  and  red  sandstones,  which  around  and  west- 
ward from  Beatrice  overlies  the  Permian. 


*These  geode  cavities  are  now  generally  believed  to  be  formed  by  cavities  left  in  the 
original  eediinents  by  covered  up  sponges,  that  subsequently  decayed. 


MEDIAEVAL    OR    MESOZO1C   TIMES.  173 


CHAPTER    II. 

MEDIEVAL  OR    MESOZOIC  TIMES  IN  NEBRASKA. 

Absence  of  Deposits  of  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  Periods. — Cause  of  this 
Absence. — Length  of  these  Periods  in  Nebraska. — Cretaceous  Period. — How 
it  Originated. — Divisions  of  the  Cretaceous. —Dakota  Group. — Its  Character, 
Extent  and  Remarkable  Flora — Origin  of  this  Flora. — Climate  of  the  Dakota 
Group  Epoch. — Fort  Benton  Group. — Its  General  Character. — Length  of  this 
Epoch,  and  its  Vegetable  and  Animal  Life. — Niobrara  Group  Epoch. — Extent 
of  its  Deposits,  and  General  Character. — Vegetable  Remains. — Animal  life 
of  this  Epoch. — Rhizopods,  Mollusks  and  Fishes. — Reptiles,  their  Great 
Abundance  and  Peculiar  Character. — Final  Disappearance  of  this  Reptile 
Fauna. 

TRIASSIC  AND  JURASSIC  PERIODS. 

''INHERE  are  no  known  deposits  of  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic 
.L  periods  in  Nebraska.  The  deposits  of  the  next  or  Cretaceous 
period  rest  directly  on  the  Permian.  Two  explanations  of  this  fact 
are  possible.  First,  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  deposits  may  once 
have  been  here,  and  were  removed  before  the  Cretaceous  was  laid 
down  by  denudation.  Or,  second,  this  region  may  have  been  a  land 
surface  during  these  periods.  This  latter  view  seems  to  be  the  most 
probable,  and  best  explains  all  the  facts  of  this  portion  of  our  geo- 
logical history. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Carboniferous  Age  was  brought 
to  a  close  by  an  upward  movement  of  the  continent,  and  that  this 
movement  continued  through  the  Permian,  until  much  of  the  pre- 
vious water  surface  was  drained,  and  made  it  impossible  to  preserve 
the  memorials  of  its  latter  history.  The  same  events  that  prevented 
the  preservation  of  the  memorials  of  the  Permian,  would,  if  con- 
tinued, prevent  the  deposition  of  Triassic  and  Jurassic  rocks.  With 
a  large  degree,  therefore,  of  certainty,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
during  these  periods  Nebraska  was  an  extended  land  surface,  and 
if  so,  there  must  have  flourished  here  for  countless  centuries  the 
peculiar  vegetable  and  animal  life  of  those  times. 

Length  of  the  Trio-Juro  Periods. — The  length  of  the  Trio-Juro 
periods  can  be  ascertained  only  relatively.  Not  even  an  approxi- 
mate estimate  can  be -made,  but  all  geologists  admit  that  they  were 


174  GEOLOGY. 

very  long  periods.  In  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  Triassic  deposits 
lie  in  unconformable  masses,  directly  on  or  against  the  Archaean 
islands  that  form  the  back-bone  of  the  continent.*  Here  the  Tri- 
assic forms  a  series  of  sandstones  from  three  hundred  to  one  thous- 
and feet  thick,  whiph  are  loose,  friable  sediments  wherever  there  is 
an  approach  to  a  horizontal  position.  "On  approaching  the  Arch- 
aean, the  Trias  always  is  composed,  or  largely  made  up  of  con- 
glomerates, the  materials  of  which  were  derived,  from  the  shores 
against  which  they  abut." — Clarence  King.  Towards  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Uintas  the  Trias  thicken  still  more,  reaching  finally  a 
depth  of  from  two  thousand  to  twenty-five  hundred  feet..  Still 
farther  westward  the  Trias  diminishes  in  thickness  and  increases  in 
compactness  and  the  quantity  of  conglomerates.  From  these  facts 
Clarence  King  concludes  that  there  was  a  land  mass  towards  the 
west,  during  this  period  from  which  the  materials  that  enter  into  its 
deposits  were  derived. 

Overlying  the  upper  beds  of  Triassic  rocks,  which  are  intercal- 
latecl  with  gypsum  and  dolomitic  limestone,  are  the  Jurassic  beds, 
which  are  first  met  in  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Colorado  range. 
Here  they  are  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five feet  in  thickness,  and  increase  westward,  until,  on  the 
Wasatch,  they  are  eighteen  hundred  feet  thick.  The  Jurassic  is 
almost  entirely  made  up  of  soft  clays,  clayey  calcareous  marls,  and 
intercalations  of  fine  lithographic  limestone.  These  rocks  are 
therefore  a  lime  and  clay  deposit. — Clarence  King.  The  maximum 
development  of  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic,  east  of  the  Wasatch,  is 
not  less  than  thirty-eight  hundred  feet. 

Immediately  above  the  Jurassic,  on  the  eastern  foothills,  lies  a 
"  heavy  bed  of  conglomerate,  which  is  the  base  member  of  the 
Dakota  Cretaceous.  *  *  "The  upper  clay  and  sandstone  beds 
directly  under  the  bottom  of  the  Dakota  conglomerate  have  been 
called  by  Marsh  the  Atlantasaurus  beds." — Clarence  King.  Hay- 
den  and  Meek  have  shown  that  it  is  probable  that  the  Jurassic 
beds  extend  eastward  beneath  the  Cretaceous.  As  the  Cretaceous 
extends  in  turn  beneath  the  Tertiary,  it  is  possible  that  there  may 
be  Jurassic  beds  in  western  Nebraska  that  cannot  be  observed,  ow- 
ing to  the  thickness  of  the  overlying  deposits  of  later  geological 
periods.  This  is  the  more  probable,  since  during  Jurassic  times 
there  was  a  deepening  of  what  had  been  the  old  Triassic  seas,  and  a 


*King's  Report  ou  the  Fortieth  Parallel. 


MEDIAEVAL    OR    MESOZOIC    TIMES.  175 

deposition,  as  we  have  seen,  of  clay  and  calcareous  marls  and  fine 
limestones,  where  previously  sand  and  other  shallow  water  de- 
posits were  taking  place.  At  least  in  the  Jurassic,  water  communi- 
cation existed  directly  with  the  ocean,  as  is  indicated  by  the  abun- 
dant marine  life  that  is  preserved  in  these  deposits. 

Now,  the  length  of  these  periods  must  have  been  exceedingly 
great,  during  which  3,800  feet  of  sediment  was  deposited,  especially 
as  a  large  part  of  them  were  of  a  character  that  never,  so  far  as  is 
now  known,  accumulate  rapidly.  The  Jurassic  beds  at  least,  which 
are  made  up  almost  exclusively  of  soft  clays,  clayey  calcareous 
marls  and  intercalated  beds  of  thin  lithographic  limestone,  must 
have  been  deposited  with  extreme  slowness.  Some  authorities  esti- 
mate the  increase  of  sediment  at  a  foot  to  the  century,  and  others 
at  only  a  few  inches.  Even  at  the  larger  figures,  a  foot  to  the  cen- 
tury, the  time  involved  would  be  180,000  years  for  the  Jurassic  alone. 
Elsewhere,  especially  in  Europe,  the  deposits  of  the  Jurassic  are 
thicker  even  than  this,  and  therefore  the  probabilities  are  that  this 
estimate  is  far  too  low.  The  preceding  Triassic  period  was  only 
one-fourth  shorter  than  the  Jurassic.  This  would  give  for  the  two 
periods  combined  31^,000  years.  (See  Dana's  Manual,  page  491.) 
During  all  these  long  centuries,  therefore,  and  far  into  the  Cre- 
taceous, as  we  shall  presently  see,  the  greater  part,  and  perhaps  the 
whole  of  Nebraska  existed  as  an  extended  land  surface.  The  events 
that  occurred  here  during  these  periods  can  never  be  certainly 
known.  The  imagination  alone  can,  with  the  few  data  from  the 
vegetable  and  animal  life  of  the  time,  fill  out  imperfectly  this  lost 
page  in  our  geological  history. 

Vegetable  Life. — Nebraska  during  these  periods,  owing  to  its 
position,  and  because  bounded  on  the  west  and  southwest  by  seas  of 
great  extent,  had  a  warm,  temperate  and  moist  climate.  The  pecu- 
liar vegetable  forms  of  the  Mediaeval  world  must  then  have  flour- 
ished here.  Among  these,  in  the  Triassic  period,  were  huge  tree 
ferns,  cycads  and  conifers,  these  last  being  principally  araucarians, 
a  family  which  is  now  mainly  confined  to  South  America  and  Aus- 
tralia. In  the  succeeding  Jurassic,  the  vegetation  was  similar,  and 
the  conditions  on  the  whole  still  more  favorable  for  a  gigantic 
growth.  In  this  period  were  re-introduced  the  conditions  favorable 
to  the  production  and  preservation  of  a  vegetation  for  the  formation 
of  coal.  To  this  period  belong  some  of  the  coal  fields  of  Scotland 
and  England,  of  India  and  China.  Either  to  this  or  the  preceding 


176  GEOLOGY. 

Triassic  belong,  also,  the  coal  fields  of  Eastern  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  It  is  probable  that  while  the  conditions  under  which  coal 
was  accumulated  in  all  geological  times  were.similar,  the  plants  dif- 
fered exceedingly.  The  higher  cryptogams  obtained  in  carbonifer- 
ous times,  but  in  the  Triassic  Ferns,  and  especially  conifers  and 
cycads,  were  the  common  forms.  (Le  Conte).  The  Jurassic  was 
eminently  the  age  of  naked  seeded  trees  (gymnosperms),  especially 
of  the  Cycads,  which  at  that  time  culminated  m  the  number  of 
species  and  individuals.  In  fact,  three- fourths  of  all  the  fossil  Zamiae 
and  one-half  the  cycads  known  from  all  the  geological  formations, 
are  from  the  Jurassic.  No  one  can  look  at  a  cycad,  with  its  long, 
fern-like  leaves,  without  admiring  its  beauty.  These  vegetable 
forms  are  now  confined  to  low,  moist  latitudes,  but  for  immense 
periods  of  geological  time  they  were  the  dominant  type  on  what 
are  now  the  plains  of  Nebraska.  Here,  in  those  times,  along 
with  tree  ferns  and  araucarians,  they  made  immense  thickets  and 
forests. 

Animal  Life. — The  Mesozoic  was  eminently  a  Reptilian  Age. 
All  kinds  of  vertebrate  life  took  on  more  or  less  of  this  type.  Ne- 
braska, being  then  a  land  surface  throughout  the  Triassic  and  Ju- 
rassic periods,  we  will  omit  the  consideration  of  the  animal  life  pe- 
culiar to  the  seas.  The  land,  however,  with  the  peculiar  vegetation 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  section,  and  with  its  warm,  temperate 
climate,  was  eminently  adapted  to  the  support  of  a  land  reptile 
fauna.  What  this  fauna  was,  we  can  only  imagine  from  the  reptilian 
remains  preserved  in  the  deposits  of  these  periods  nearest  to  us. 
Many  are  found  in  western  Kansas  and  eastern  Colorado.  The 
foothills  are  of  Jurassic  age,  and  are  composed  of  clay  and  sand- 
stone beds,  overlaid  directly  by  a  heavy  bed  of  the  peculiar  con- 
glomerate of  the  Cretaceous  Dakota  Group.  These  beds,  as  al- 
ready remarked,  have  been  called  Atlantosaurus  beds  by  Marsh, 
from  the  prevalence  in  them  of  huge  remains  of  Dinosaurs.  No 
land  animals  of  such  gigantic  size  have  ever  been  discovered  else- 
where in  deposits  of  any  geological  age.  The  most  important  lo- 
cality for  these  remains  is  at  Morrison  and  Canyon  City,  where  the 
Atlantosaurus  immanis  (monstrous  sized  lizard)  was  found.  Its 
femur  was  eight  feet  four  inches  long,  which  would  indicate,  on  the 
principles  of  comparative  anatomy,  an  animal  walking  on  all  fours 
of  over  one  hundred  feet  in  length  and  over  thirty  feet  in  height. 
It  approximated  closely  in  size  to  the  limits  beyond  which  locomo- 


MEDIAEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  177 

tion  would  be  impossible,  owing-  to  the  specific  gravity  becoming 
too  great  to  be  moved  by  muscular  power.  Apparently,  to  over- 
come this 'obstacle,  its  bones  were  made  partially  hollow,  similar  to 
those  of  birds.  Atlantosaurus  montanus  was  almost  as  large  as  the 
preceding.  Eleven  additional  reptile  forms  were  found  in  these  lo- 
calities, some  of  which  were  also  of  gigantic  mould.  One  of  them, 
however,  Creosaurus  airax,  was  a  small  carniverous  Dinosaur.  It 
is  also  curious  that  among  these  gigantic  forms  there  were  two  of 
the  smallest  Dinosaurs  yet  discovered.  One  of  them  was  not  larger 
than  a  cat.  Another  reptile  found  here  is  the  type  of  a  new  group, 
and  is  named  by  Marsh  Stagosaurzis  armatus.  A  crocodile  found 
here  had  biconcave  vertebras  like  a  fish.  A  small  animal,  structured 
like  a  possum  (marsupial),  was  also  found  among  these  remains. 

As  observed  already,  some  of  these  remains  are  the  most  gigantic 
land  animals  yet  discovered.  No  land  vertebrates  approaching 
them  in  size  have  ever  been  discovered  anywhere  else.  Thev 
probably  represent  but  a  tithe  of  the  fauna  of  that  period.  As  the 
general  slope  of  the  continent  at  that  time  was  westward,  and  many 
great  rivers  must  have  flowed  from  the  direction  of  Nebraska  into  the 
old  Jurassic  sea,  it  is  almost  absolutely  certain  that  these  gigantic 
land  animals  were  carried  there  from  the  east,  and  that  they  repre- 
sent the  fauna  of  this  territory  during  the  Jurassic  period.  If,  there- 
fore, we  picture  to  ourselves  the  climate  of  that  time,  its  curious 
forests  of  tree  ferns,  conifers,  zamias  and  cycads,  full  of  all  sizes  of 
reptilian  life,  and  especially  of  the  gigantic  forms,  along  with  a  few 
lonely  mamalian  species,  and  some  reptilian  birds,  it  will  give  a 
faint  idea  of  what  Nebraska  and  much  of  the  adjoining  State  of 
Kansas  was  during  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  periods. 

Close  of  the  Jurassic  Period. — The  Jurassic  period  was  brought 
to  a  close  by  a  further  contraction  of  the  cooling  globe.  One  of 
the  results  of  this  contraction  was,  according  to  Whitney,  the  up- 
rising of  the  Sierras.  The  rocks  of  the  next  period  (Cretaceous) 
lie  unconformably  on  or  against  its  side.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Wasatch,  almost  parallel  with  the  Sierras,  and  the  Uintas,  almost 
at  right  angles  with  the  last,  also  came  up  from  the  bottom  of  the 
old  Jurassic  sea.  This  probably  raised  the  whole  of  this  portion  of 
the  continent  to  so  high  a  level  as  to  drain  the  whole  of  what  had 
been  the  Jurassic  sea,  and  constituted  it  a  land  surface  until  the 
middle  Cretaceous  period. 
12 


178  GEOLOGY. 

THE  CRETACEOUS  PERIOD. 

As  is  well  known,  the  name  Cretaceous  is  taken  from  the  Latin 
Creta,  meaning  chalk,  which  is  exceedingly  abundant  in  deposits 
of  this  age  in  Europe.  This,  the  closing  period  of  the  Mesozoic 
or  Reptilian  Age,  is  well  represented  in  the  rocks  of  Nebraska.  It 
is  somewhat  remarkable,  however,  that  no  equivalent  of  the  Euro- 
pean lower  Cretaceous  has  yet  been  found  in  the  West.  The  equiv- 
alent of  the  lower  green  sand  of  the  English  Cretaceous  is  there- 
fore not  present  here.  It  is  even  questionable  whether  the  upper 
green  sand,  or  middle  Cretaceous,  is  here  represented.  The  follow- 
ing is  probably  the  explanation  of  this  fact.  As  has  already  been 
stated,  the  Sierras,  Wasatch  and  Uinta  uplifts  probably  raised  with 
them  the  adjoining  territories  that  had  been  covered  by  the  old  Ju- 
rassic seas.  During  the  whole  of  the  period  represented  by  the 
lower  green  sand  of  the  European  Cretaceous,  the  entire  Rocky 
Mountain  region  was  dry  land.  Whether  its  utmost  height  was 
reached  at  the  close  of  the  Jurassic,  or  whether  it  continued  rising 
far  into  the  Cretaceous,  is  only  a  matter  for  conjecture.  The  weight 
of  evidence  is,  however,  at  present  in  favor  of  the  former  view.  In 
Europe  the  lower  and  middle  Cretaceous  were  periods  of  subsidence, 
and  therefore  it  is  probable  that  this  was  the  case  here.  This  sink- 
ing extended  over  a  large  part  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  and 
embraced  the  plains  of  Nebraska  as  far  east  at  least  as  Fort  Calhoun, 
on  the  Missouri,  and  north  of  that  point  to  a  considerable  distance 
beyond  it.  From  Fort  Calhoun,  the  eastern  line  of  subsidence  ex- 
tended in  the  opposite  direction  first  southward  and  then  southwest- 
ward,  entering  Kansas  a  little  west  of  the  Otoe  reservation.  At 
least  this  far  east  the  lower  member  of  our  Cretaceous  system  is 
found.  It  may  once  have  covered  the  whole  of  the  State,  as  there 
are  indications  that  it  has  been  removed  from  the  Carboniferous  and 
Permian  by  denudation.  What  adds  greatly  to  the  probability  of 
this  view  is  the  fact  that  small  areas  of  Cretaceous  rocks  are  marked 
by  Prof.  White,  in  his  geological  map  of  Iowa,  in  the  latitude  of 
41°  30'  as  far  east  as  the  southeast  corner  of  Guthrie  County.  If 
that  view  is  the  correct  one,  then  this  Cretaceous  subsidence  extended 
much  farther  eastward. 

Divisions  of  the  Cretaceous. — Nowhere  in  this  country  is  the 
Cretaceous  so  well  represented  as  in  the  far  west,  and  on  the  upper 
Missouri.  The  following  is  the  detailed  section  prepared  by  Meek 
and  Hayden.  Having  gone  over  much  of  this  ground  myself, 


MEDIEVAL   OR   MESOZO1C   TIMES. 


179 


their  divisions  on  the  whole  appear  to  me  the  best  possible.  I  have 
changed  the  descriptions  of  Meek  and  Hayden  slightly  to  make 
them  correspond  more  particularly  with  the  geology  of  Nebraska. 


DIVISIONS. 

LOCALITIES. 

§ 

Gray  ferruginous   and  yellowish   sand- 

Fox Hills,  near  Long 

w  ^ 

stone    and    arenaceous    clays    containing 

Lake  above  Ft.  Pierre 

r       5 

massive  molluscan,  and  reptilian  fossils. 

and  along  Big  Horn 

§25 

Maximum  thickness,  500  feet. 

Mountains.      Not    in. 

Nebraska. 

^  O 

02 

£  ^ 

g 

3 

Dark  grey  and  bluish  plastic  clays,  also 

Sage   Creek.     Chey- 

C/3 

&H 

containing  massive  fossils  near  the  upper 

enne  and  White  River 

PS 

O  ^* 

part,  also    reptilian    remains.    Maximum 

above  the  Bad  Lands. 

£ 

«  6 

thickness,  700  feet. 

Not  in  Nebraska. 

Pn 

^•^  P^ 

P 

W  fc 

•s  8 

Middle  nearly  barren  of  fossils.    Lower 

Fort   Pierre  out  to 

2  2 

r_j      -H 

Zone  contains  many  massive  chambered 

Bad  Lands,  down  the 

&3    vj 

*    .     — 

shells.    Dark  bed  of  fine  unctuous  clay, 

Missouri  to  Gr'tBend. 

rH    J?5 

H    — 

containing     carbonaceous     matter,     with 

Knox  County  on  Ni. 

^T 

veins  and  seams  of  gypsum,  masses   of 

obrara  and  on  upper 

P 

sulphuret   of    iron,   small    scales,   fishes, 

Republican. 

local,  filling  depressions  in  the  bed  below. 

180 


GEOLOGY. 


DIVISIONS. 

LOCALITIES. 

Lead  gray  calcareous  marl,  weathering 

Bluffs  along  the  Mis- 

. 

•d 

g 

to  a  yellowish  or  whitish  chalky  appear- 

souri below  the  Great 

M 

ance,  containing  man}r  large  scales  of  fish- 

Bend,  greatly   devel- 

g 

es  and  many  ostrea  congesta  attached  to 

oped  below  the  mouth 

.**  cci 

fragments  of  Inoceramus.     Passing  down 

of  the  Niobrara,  and 

OH     J 
D  O 

into  yellowish  and  whitish  limestone  con- 

on to  Dakota  County 

i* 

taining  many  Inoceramus   problematicus, 

along  the    Missouri. 

o  £ 

ostrea  congesta,  etc. 

West  of  this  line  ex- 

o 
-i  2 

tends   an   underlying 

.«  H 

rock  to  Kansas.   Most 

<• 

H 

extensive     group    of 

PQ 

O 

cretaceous    rocks    in 

£ 

Nebraska.    Maximum 

DQ 

thickness  200  feet. 

W 

s 

^ 

Dark   gray  laminated  clays,    sometimes 

Fort  Benton  on  the 

H 

02 

D-<i 

alternating  near  the  upper  part  with  seams 

upper   Missouri,  and 

*U0 

§2 

and  layers  of  soft  gray  and  light  colored 

along  the  latter  from 

P3 

w 

5!§ 

limestone.      Many   chambered   shells  and 

ten-miles  above  James 

&  x 

other  marine  molluscan  forjns. 

River     to     the     Big 

0 

gl 

Sioux,    Black     Hills. 

(^ 

£  H 

Found    in    Nebraska 

W  •< 

«  S 

beneath  the  Niobrara 

H  g 

Group,  but  rarely  the 

Is 

surface  rock.     Maxi- 

£ 

mum    thickness,   800 

feet. 

£'- 

Yellowish,    reddish,    and     occasionally 

Back  of  Dakota  and 

o  6 

white   sandstone  with  occasional  alterna- 

in surrounding  coun- 

gfc 

tions  of  various  colored  clays  and  beds  and 

try.     Thence    south- 

«* 

seams  of  impure  lignite.     Also,  silicified 

westward   into    Kan- 

• 

£  s 

wood  and  casts  of  marine  mollusks.    Many 

sas  and  beyond.  Max- 

O p* 
«  0 

remains  of  the  higher  types  of  dicotyledo- 

imum thickness,  400 

Q* 

nous  leaves  from  tree  forms. 

feet. 

These  groups  are  readily  separated  and  distinguished  on  the  up- 
per Missouri  and  through  Nebraska,  except  along  the  Republican 
River.  Had  I  first  studied  the  Cretaceous  on  the  Republican, 
Meek  and  Haydenvs  divisions  would  have  appeared  inapplicable  as 
these  groups  there  shade  into  each  other.  The  geologist,  however, 
who  first  studies  the  rocks  of  this  period  on  the  Missouri  cannot 
well  deny  the  validity  of  this  grouping.  Since  the  rocks  of  this 
period  have  been  studied  in  the  mountains  by  the  United  States 
Surveys,  two  of  the  chiefs,  Clarence  King  and  Dr.  Hay  den,  have 
agreed  on  a  slightly  different  division.  They  retain  No  I,  or  the 
Dakota  Group  as  the  basal  member  of  the  series.  The  next  three? 
however,  namely,  the  Fort  Benton,  Niobrara,  and  Fort  Pierre 


MEDIAEVAL    OR    MESOZOIC   TIMES.  181 

Groups  they  now  call  the  Colorado.*     The. Fox  Hills   Group,  Dr. 
Hayden's  No.  5  becomes  then,  with  this  division,  No.  3. 

THE  DAKOTA    GROUP. 

This  was  so  named  by  Hayden  because  of  its  great  development 
southwest  from  Dakota  City  in  Dakota  County.  Beginning  from 
below,  it  consists  in  the  main  of  a  whitish  clay  frcm  a  few  inches 
to  four  feet  in  thickness,  then  various  thicknesses  of  conglomerate 
and  concretionary  sandstone  averaging  from  one  to  ten  feet;  next 
yellowish  coarse  sandstone  from  fifteen  feet  and  upwards;  and  next 
a  red  hard  ferruginous  sandstone  containing  impressions  of  plants, 
leaves,  wood,  etc.,  from  thirty  to  seventy  feet  in  thickness. 

Extent  of  the  Dakota  Group  Deposits.  —  The  Dakota  Group 
towards  the  west  extends  under  the  Fort  Benton  and  Niobrara 
Groups  and  therefore  its  real  breadth  cannot  be  ascertained.  I 
have  traced  it,  however,  from  east  to  west  over  a  breadth  of  from 
sixty  to  ninety  miles.  In  the  States  of  Iowa  and  Kansas  Lesque- 
rcux  estimates  its  breadth  as  slightly  greater.  Its  eastern  boundary 
is  that  of  the  Cretaceous  and  can  be  seen  in  the  accompanying  geo- 
logical map  of  the  State.  It  is  mainly  found  in  the  following  coun- 
ties: Dakota,  Wayne,  Winnebago  and  Omaha  reservation,  Burt, 
Washington,  Cuming,  Stanton,  Colfax,  Dodge,  Douglas,  Sarpy, 
Saunders,  Butler,  Seward,  Lancaster,  Cass,  Gage,  Jefferson, 
Saline,  and  occasionally  in  the  counties  bordering  on  these.  South- 
westerly it  has  been  traced  to  Texas.  It  crops  out  in  numerous 
places  as  the  basal  member  of  the  cretaceous  series  in  the  mountains. 
It  covers  a  large  part  of  northwestern  Iowa,  and  extends  towards 
the  northern  limits  of  Minnesota.  There  are  evidences  of  its 
presence  in  British  America.  Prof.  Heer  has  also  described  fossil 
leaves  from  Greenland,  some  of  whose  genera  and  species  are  ident- 
ical with  those  from  the  Dakota  Group,  and  therefore  it  is  probable 
that  it  has  been  continuous,  as  Lesquereux  remarks,  from  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  to  Greenland  and  other  Arctic  lands,  or  over  thirty-five 
decrees  of  latitude. 

o 

Origin  of  the  Dakota  Group. — We  have  already  seen  that  during, 
at  least  the  lower  Cretaceous,  Nebraska,  with  a  large  part  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  was  an  extended  land  surface  in  process  of 
slow  subsidence.  By  the  time  the  middle  Cretaceous  began,  this 
subsidence  had  reached  so  low  a  level  as  to  admit  the  Gulf  of 


*Havden  considers  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  from  its  organic  rf  mains  moit  closely  allied  to 
the  Fox  Hills. 


182  GEOLOGY. 

Mexico,  which'  spread  over  the  area  where  the  sediments  of  the 
Dakota  Group  are  now  found.  There  can  be  no  question  about 
the  Dakota  Group  being  a  shallow  sea  and  beach  deposit.  Just 
such  materials  are  now  being  deposited  in  existing  shallow  seas. 
Examples  can  be  seen  along  the  North  Sea,  on  the  Belgian  coast, 
and  along  the  shores  of  Holland  where  there  are  extensive  muddy 
flats  composed  of  substances  which  if  compacted  would  be  similar 
in  constitution  to  the  Dakota  sandstone.  Small  grains  of  sand  are 
rolled  up  by  the  sea  which  are  mingled  with  the  mud  deposits 
brought  down  by  the  rivers.  The  rivers  bring  down  iron  held  in 
solution  which  is  deposited  in  the  presence  of  organic  matter  on  the 
bottoms,  often  giving  the  grains  of  sand  a  coating,  which  subse- 
quently became  loosely  compacted  sand  rock  with  a  rusty,  red,  or 
brown  color.  "  Marine  animals,  especially  shells,  are  rare  in  deposits 
of  this  kind."  "It  is  shunned  by  every  kind  of  land  animals,  and  it 
has  therefore  no  other  remains  imbedded  into  its  compound  but 
saurians  and  rarely  fishes.  It  has  no  remains  of  marine  plants  be- 
cause these  do  not  grow  on  the  soft  ground." — (Lesquereux.) 

Prof.  Marcou  and  Capellini  regarded  the  Dakota  Group  as  a 
fresh  water  deposit.  If  the  considerations  already  adduced  are  cor- 
rect it  cannot  possibly  have  such  an  origin.  It  can  also  be  added 
that  at  Sioux  City,  and  in  the  bluffs  in  Dakota  County  are  found 
mingled  with  dicotyledonous  leaves  peculiar -to  this  deposit  such 
marine  shells  as  Pharella  Dakotensis,  Axinea  Siouxensis,  and  Cy- 
prina  arenacea.  Prof.  Meek  has  also  identified  not  less  than  twelve 
additional  marine  species  from  this  group  in  Kansas  where  the  leaf 
impressions  are  characteristically  abundant.  Its  very  extent  con- 
tradicts such  an  opinion.  It  is  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  miles 
broad  and  adjoining  and  overlapping  the  Carboniferous  and  Per- 
mian, it  extends  from  Texas  through  Minnesota  to,  and  probably 
through  British  America  to  Greenland.  It  is  not  conceivable  that 
there  should  be  a  fresh  water  deposit  of  such  extent.  The  homo- 
genous character  of  its  materials  also  contradicts  this  view.  No 
American  geologist,  however,  ever  entertained  this  opinion. 

Discussions  tn  Regard  to  the  Character  and  Age  of  the  Dakota 
Group. — No  group  of  remains  have  ever  excited  more,  and  few  as 
much  interest  as  that  of  the  Dakota.  When  first  studied  in  Kan- 
sas, it  was  regarded  by  Prof.  Hawn  and  Swallow  as  of  Triassic 
age.  Afterwards  it  was  pronounced  Jurassic  by  Prof.  Marcou. 
"In  the  mean  time  Dr.  Hayden  sent  some  sketches  of  the  leaf  im- 


MEDIAEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  183 

pressions  to  Prof.  O.  Heer,  of  Switzerland,  who  complicated  the 
discussion  still  more  by  pronouncing  them  to  he  of  Tertiary  age." 
Hayden  himself  had  reported  on  the  peculiar  character  of  this  group 
as  early  as  1853.  In  1856  and  1857,  assisted  now  by  Meek,  he  re- 
sumed the  study  of  this  deposit  in  Kansas  as  they  had  previously 
done  in  Nebraska,  and  both  reaffirmed  the  conviction  which  Hayden 
had  previously  expressed,  that  these  rocks  were  of  Cretaceous  age. 
Dr.  Newberry  expressed  the  same  conviction  when  their  whole 
collection  of  leaves  was  submitted  to  him.  This  reference  of  these 
leaves  to  the  Cretaceous,  first  by  Hayden,  and  then  by  Meek  and 
Newberry,  produced  a  difference  of  opinion  and  much  discussion 
among  some  European  and  American  geologists.  Dr.  Newberrv 
has  given  the  details  of  this  discussion  in  his  "Extinct  Floras."  To 
settle  the  question  of  the  geological  age  of  the  Dakota  Group, 
Professors  Capellini,  of  Paris,  and  Marcou,  of  Dresden,  visited  Ne- 
braska and  examined  the  stratiography  of  this  group  and  collected 
the  fossil  leaf  impressions  which  it  contain*,  all  of  which  were  af- 
terwards submitted  to  Prof.  O.  Heer  for  examination.  In  his 
report — Phyilites  ttu  Nebraska — seventeen  new  species  were  de- 
scribed with  illustrations.  In  this  report  Prof.  Heer  admitted  the 
accuracy  of  Hayden's  original  reference  of  this  deposit  to  the  Cre- 
taceous. Capeliini  and  Marcou  also  on  stratiographical  evidence 
came  to  the  same  conclusion,  and  admitted  that  they  wrere  much 
less  successful  than  the  American  geologist,  as  they,  unlike  him 
were  unable  to  discover  the  line  of  junction  with  the  next  group 
above.  It  therefore  became  settled  in  the  minds  of  the  eminent 
European  and  American  geologists,  who  had  especially  investigated 
the  matter,  that  the  Dakota  Group  was  the  basal  member  of  the 
Cretaceous  in  this  region,  and  was  the  equivalent  of  the  middle  or 
lower  part  of  the  upper  of  the  European  Cretaceous.  1  have  given 
this  outline  because,  even  yet,  in  the  minds  of  some  geologists  who 
have  not  studied  the  history  of  these  investigations  there  is  a  doubt 
about  the  cretaceous  reference  of  this  group.*  It  should  also  he 
remembered  to  the  credit  of  Dr.  Hayden  that  he  was  the  first  to 
outline,  to  name,  and  to  ascertain  the  true  position  of  this  group. 

Fossil  Leaves  of  the  Dakota  Group. — As  early  as  1853  Dr. 
Hayden  had  obtained  impressions  of  dicotyledonous  leaves  from  the 
rocks,  which  he  subsequently  named  the  Dakota  Group.  They 
were  remarkable  for  their  modern  aspect,  as  most  of  the  genera 


*See  on  this  subject  Lesquereux's  Dakota  Group  Cretaceoua  Flora. 


184  GEOLOGY. 

to  which  they  belonged  are  still  represented  in  our  existing  flora. 
The  collection  of  these  leaves  has  steadily  gone  on  until  the  pres- 
ent time,  some  of  the  most  important  being  made  by  Meek  and 
Hayden  in  1856  and  1857,  and  again  in  1865.  Prof.  Newberry 
also  engaged  in  this  work  in  another  field.  Prof.  Marcou  and 
Capellini  also  added  to  the  number,  as  well  as  Prof.  James  Hall, 
Lesquereux  and  Prof.  Mudge.  One  of  the  first  published  reports, 
with  drawings  of  the  leaves,  was  that  of  Prof.  O.  Heer,  of  Swit- 
zerland. In  1874  the  Hayden  surveys  published  Lesquereux'  Da- 
kota Group,  Cretaceous  Flora,  which  combined  all  the  previously 
published  descriptions,  with  a  great  deal  of  original  matter,  and 
gave  a  full  description  of  all  these^leaf  impressions  that  had  been 
discovered  up  to  that  time.  According  to  this  report  there  have 
been  found  thus  far  in  this  group  132  species,  distributed  among 
seventy-two  genera.  Of  these  there  were  of  non-flowering  plants 
seven  species,  and  six  of  these  were  ferns.  Of  naked  seeded 
plants  (Gymnosperms]  there  were  seven  species,  one  of  which  was- 
a  zamisk  and  six  conifers.  Two  of  these  belonged  to  the  giant 
cedar  family  (Sequoia],  and  one  a  glyptostrobus,  similar  to  the  one 
still  growing  in  China  and  Japan.  There  were  three  moncoty- 
ledons,  one  of  which  was  a  palm.  The  dicotyledonous  trees,  called 
also  exogens  (outside  growers],  to  which  division  all  our  common 
trees  belong,  were  the  most  fully  represented,  all  the  remaining 
forms  belonging  to  these  classes.  Among  these  there  were  five 
species  of  populus,  the  genus  to  which  our  cottonwood  belongs. 
Closely  allied  to  the  last  were  four  species  of  populites.  Of  the 
willows  (Salix],  there  were  six  species.  The  oaks  (Quercus],  were 
represented  by  eight  species,  and  the  beeches  (Fagus],  by  two. 
There  were  six  species  of  buttonwood  (Platanus],  and  one  fig 
tree.  There  were  two  species  of  spicewood  (Laurus],  seven  of 
sassafras  and  two  of  cinnamonum.  The  magnolias  were  abundant, 
as  the  presence  of  fine  species  attest.  The  tulip  trees  (Lirioden- 
drori),  which  are  among  the  most  magnificent  of  all  modern  trees, 
were  represented  by  three  species.  One  buckthorn  (Rhamnus)y 
one  walnut  (Juglans),  and  one  sumac  (Rhus],  have  left  their  re- 
mains in  this  group.  Even  an  apple  (Pyrus),  and  a  plum  {Prunus]^ 
flourished  in  those  times. 

No  one,  however,  can  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  character  of  this 
rich  modern  flora  without  studying  its  remains,  or  the  remarkable 
and  beautiful  report  of  Lesquereux  on  "  The  Fossil  Flora  of  the  Da- 


MEDIAEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  185 

kota  Cretaceous  Group."  I  have  also  added  these  fossils  to  the  cabi- 
net of  the  State  University,  where  they  can  be  seen. 

Origin  of  the  Flora  of  the  Dakota  Group. — No  geological  ques- 
tion is  more  involved  in  doubt  than  the  source  or  origin  of  the 

O 

flora  of  the  Dakota  Group.  So  far  as  known  it  is  entirely  discon- 
nected from  all  antecedent  types.  "The  remarkable  disproportion 
between  the  number  of  genera  compared  to  species  in  the  Dakota 
Group  seems  at  first  to  corroborate  the  system  so  generally  admitted 
now  of  a  successive  development  of  vegetable  forms,  according  to 
a  supposed  rule  of  progression  of  more  complex  forms  constantly 
originating  by  the  multiplication  or  subdivision  of  simple  organs  of 
inferior  types." — (Lesquereux).  According  to  this  view,  as  we  go 
back  in  time  there  should  be  few  species  and  more  genera,  and 
what  species  there  are  should  differ  only  slightly  from  the  characters 
assigned  to  the  genera.  There  are,  however,  some  genera  in  this 
group  represented  by  from  six  to  eight  species,  and  it  is  equally 
probable  that  the  others,  if  all  the  forms  had  been  preserved,  would 
liave  been  fully  as  abundant. 

It  is,  however,  not  scientific  to  depend  on  suppositions  on  either 
side.  The  facts,  alone  should  be  considered.  And  the  facts,  so  far 
as  is  now  know^n,  as  already  remarked,  totally  disconnect  this  flora 
from  all  that  went  before  it. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Dakota  Group  rests  directly  on 
the  Upper  Carboniferous  or  Lower  Permian.  The  Upper  Per- 
mian, the  Triassic,  Jurassic,  and  Lower  Cretaceous  are  all  wanting. 
The  uppermost  vegetable  remains  in  the  Permian,  a  calamite  in  the 
Rocky  JMountains,  is  yet  palaeozoic  in  type.  Even  if  we  look  at  the 
vegetable  remains  in  the  Triassic  of  South  Carolina  and  Virginia, 
nothing  is  found  but  forms  representing  ferns,  equisetacese,  cycads 
and  conifers.  Even  in  Europe  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  floras 
belong  to  the  same  types.  No  dicotyledonous  leaf  has  been  found 
anywhere  before  the  Cretaceous.  Now  the  slightest  examination 
of  the  flora  of  the  Dakota  Group  shows  the  "prodigious  difference 
which  separates  this  flora  from  that  of  any  former  epoch,  even 
considering  the  antecedent  vegetation  of  the  Jurassic,  known  as  it 
is  from  European  specimens  and  publications."  It  differs  equally 
from  anything  yet  found  in  the  Jurassic  in  America.  "The  ferns, 
conifers  and  cycads  with  a  few  equisetae,  which  constitute  the 
whole  known  flora  of  that  epoch  are  all  of  peculiar  types,  without 
relations  to  any  of  the  species  of  the  same  families  recognized  as 
yet  in  the  flora  of  the  American  Cretaceous." — (Lesquereux). 


186  GEOLOGY. 

There  are  only  two  ways  in  which  we  can  account  for  the  sudden 
appearance  of  this  Dakota  Group  flora.  One  is,  that  it  appeared 
without  any  connection  with  antecedent  types.  It  involves  the 
theory  that  by  some  fiat  of  Nature's  God  it  was  spontaneously  and 
suddenly  produced.  Few  naturalists  now  accept  this  view.  They 
regard  the  vegetable  world  as  a  connected  chain.  They  are  there- 
fore in  this  case  driven  to  .use  the  "scientific  imagination"  and  sug- 
gest the  following  explanation — the  second  explanation  already 
referred  to. 

We  have  already  seen  that  throughout  the  unnumbered  centuries 
of  the  latter  Permian,  Triassic,  Jurassic,  and  Lower  Cretaceous 
Nebraska  was  an  extended  land  surface,  and  covered  by  a  colossal 
vegetation  of  which  no  memorials  have  been  preserved.  The  pecu- 
liar animal  life  of  the  time  flourished  here  as  elsewhere.  Now,  it 
is  conceivable  that  during  these  long  periods,  whose  length  is 
simply  incalculable,  vegetable  life  underwent  many  changes,  be- 
cause the  conditions  of  climate  and  environment  changed  many 
times.  The  transformation  therefore  from  primitive  types  was 
gradual,  all  the  intermediate  links  of  which  have  been  lost,  and 
the  last  factor,  the  flora  of  the  Dakota  Group  alone  preserved. 

Climate  of  the  Dakota  Group  Epoch. — Many  of  the  genera  of 
plants  of  the  Dakota  Group  period  are  still  flourishing  in  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  and  even  in  Minnesota.  Professor  Heer  has  also  pub- 
lished a  memoir  on  a  group  of  Cretaceous  plants  from  Greenland, 
whose  facies  resembles  that  of  the  Dakota  Group.  If  the  Green- 
land fossil  Cretaceous  flora  is  cotemporaneous  with  that  of  the 
Dakota  Group,  which  seems  probable,  then  a  similar  climate  pre- 
vailed from  southern  Kansas  to  near  the  Arctic  circle.  However 
that  may  be,  little  difference  can  be  detected  between  the  fossil 
vegetable  forms  in  Kansas  and  Minnesota,  and  therefore  a  tem- 
perate climate  must  have  prevailed  over  this  entire  region,  during 
Dakota  group  times,  not  greatly  different  from  the  one  that  now 
exists  in  Nebraska.  The  similarity  of  the  vegetable  forms  that 
then  existed,  to  those  that  now  obtain  here,  proves  that  the  climate 
of  that  epoch  was  much  like  ours  to  day.  It  was,  judging  from 
the  presence  of  some  species,  only  slightly  warmer  than  our  pres- 
ent climate.  It  was  colder,  however,  than  the  preceding  Triassic 
and  Jurassic,  and  also  colder  than  the  climate  that  subsequently 
prevailed  in  the  Niobrara  Cretaceous,  and  during  Eoeene  and  Mio- 
cene times. 


MEDIAEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  187 

THE  FORT  BENTON  GROUP. 

The  preceding  period  was  closed  by  the  changed  conditions 
brought  on  by  a  further  subsidence  of  the  region  where  its  deposit 
are  found.  Where  shallow  seas  and  extended  sea  beaches  and  flats 
full  of  low  islands  had  obtained,  now  rolled  deeper  waters  and 
quieter  seas.  The  deposits  formed  during  these  times  have  been 
called  by  Hayden  the  Fort  Benton  Group.  They  are  dark  gray 
laminated  clays,  sometimes  alternating  near  the  upper  part  with 
seams  and  layers  of  soft  gray  and  light  colored  limestone,  filled  in 
many  places  with  marine  shells.  Occasionally  in  Nebraska  this 
group  contains  seams  of  impure  lignite  and  other  carbonaceous 
matter.  It  lies  conformably  on  the  Dakota  Group  below.  It  is  so 
friable  and  easily  eroded  and  disintegrated,  that  wherever  it  is  left 
exposed,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  it  has  disappeared.  In  many 
places,  however,  where  deep  sections  have  been  made  by  canyons 
and  railroad  cuts  through  theNiobrara  Group,  which  lies  above,  its 
deposits  are  almost  invariable  present,  and  often  in  notable  thick- 
ness. One  of  the  finest  of  these  exposures  is  seen  below  the 
mouth  of  Iowa  Creek,  in  Dixon  County,  along  the  Missouri  bluffs. 
Here  for  a  long  distance  the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  Da- 
kota, Fort  Benton  and  Niobrara  groups  are  distinctly  seen  and  clear- 
ly outlined.  Below  Milford,  on  the  banks  of  the  Blue,  and  at  other 
points  in  Seward  County,  in  deep  sections,  it  is  also  observed. 

That  this  period  was  a  long  one  is  evident  from  the  fact,  as  ob- 
served by  Hayden,  that  its  deposits  are  in  some  places  800  feet 
thick.  The  materials,  too,  are  of  a  kind  that  are  slowly  deposited. 
It  is  probable  that  the  numerous  low  islands  that  had  existed  in 
Nebraska  during  the  previous  epoch,  had  now  mostly  disappeared 
beneath  the  constantly  deepening  seas.  Some  land  surfaces  still 
existed  in  southeastern  Nebraska,  but  no  such  memorials  of  its  con- 
dition have  come  down  to  us  as  marked  the  preceding  epoch. 
Marine  life,  however,  was  abundant.  Meek  alone  has  described 
from  this  group  five  species  of  Inoceramus,  a  mollusk  distantly  re- 
lated to  the  oyster,  and  nine  species  of  chambered  shells,  some  of 
•which  were  of  great  size  and  beauty.  He  has  also  given  eleven 
additional  marine  molluscan  forms*.  The  seas  swarmed  with  fishes. 
Reptilian  life  was  abundant,  but  this  feature  will  be  presented  in 
the  discussions  of  the  next  epoch. 


*See  Meek's  "Cretaceous  Invertebrate  Fossils  " 


188  GEOLOGY. 

THE  NIOBRARA  GROUP  EPOCH. 

A  still  further  subsidence  of  the  continent,  especially  towards  the 
north  and  west,  inaugurated  the  Niobrara  Group  Epoch.  Hayden 
gave  it  this  name  because  of  the  great  development  of  its  deposits 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara  in  northeastern  Nebraska.  Here 
its  deposits  consist  of  an  impure  chalk  rock,  varying  from  a  gray- 
ish white  to  a  pink  bluish  and  yellow  hue.  Below  the  mouth  of 
the  Niobrara  many  of  the  chalk  bluffs  are  several  hundred  feet 
high,  with  a  perpendicular  face  often  excavated  beneath  by  atmos- 
pheric agencies.  These  chalk  rocks  are  seen  through  Knox,  Cedar, 
in  many  places  in  Dixon  County,  and  in  places  on  the  lower  Re- 
publican. Elsewhere  the  deposits,  especially  those  beneath  the 
stratum  of  chalk,  are  mostly  of  an  impure  limestone,  which  often 
shade  imperceptibly  into  a  silicate  of  lime.  This  stratum  is  often 
called  the  Inoceramus  bed,  from  the  immense  numbers  of  this  mol- 
lusk  which  frequently  compose  it.  Under  the  Inoceramus  bed 
there  is  in  many  places  toward  the  southwest,  a  stratum  varying 
from  a  few  inches  to  fifteen  feet  in  thickness,  of  an  impure,  yellow- 
ish, silicious  limestone.  According  to  Prof.  Mudge,  it  is  the  char- 
acteristic feature  of  this  group  in  Kansas.  It  can  be  observed  at 
Milford,  in  Seward  County,  in  places  in  Harlan  County,  and  at 
many  other  . points  between  these  stations.  Lately  a  chalk  bed  of 
this  deposit  was  found  near  Red  Cloud,  in  the  Republican  Valley. 
It  is  pure  white,  soft,  easily  worked,  and  contains  little  besides  car- 
bonate of  lime  and  a  small  amount  of  iron  carbonate,  but  not 
sufficient  to  color  it.  Judging  from  microscopic  and  chemical  tests, 
it  is  as  pure  as  the  best  European  chalks. 

The  Niobrara  is  the  most  widely  extended  of  all  the  Cretaceous 
groups  in  Nebraska.  In  southern  Nebraska,  from  the  western  line 
of  the  Dakota  Group  to  Harlan  County — where  it  is  overlaid  by 
the  Pliocene,  it  is  over  100  miles  wide.  In  north  Nebraska,  from 
Dakota  County — where  it  begfns  to  overlie  the  Dakota  Group,  it 
extends  westward  for  over  150  miles.  In  general,  the  area  on  the 
geological  map  marked  Cretaceous  is  all  Niobrara  Group,  except  a 
border  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  miles  wide  on  the  eastern  rim, 
from  the  Omaha  Reservation  southward,  which  mainly  belongs  to  the 
Dakota  Group.  As  before  intimated,  it  was  mostly  a  period  when 
deep  seas  overspread  a  large  part  of  the  area  now  covered  by  its 
deposits.  Southeastern  Nebraska  was  also  a  land  surface  during 


MEDIJEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  189 

this  epoch.     The  eastern  border,  at  least,  of  the  Cretaceous  area, 
was  the  eastern  shore  line  of  th6  interior  sea  of  the  time. 

Vegetable  Life  of  the  Niobrara   Group  Epoch. — The  diatoms   and  » 

desrj^ds    which  abounded   in   some   strata   in  the  European  chalk,    * 
were  sparingly  represented  in  the  Niobrara  Group  seas.      I    have  \ 
only  in  a  single  instance  found  a*few  diatoms  under  the  microscope 
in  some  chalk  obtained  below  the  mouth   of  the   Niobrara   River. 
The  specimen  was  overlaid  by  a  portion  of  the   skeleton  of  a  fish 
which  seems  to  have  protected  the  silicious   matter  which  had  ac- 
cumulated and  which  contained  the  diatoms. 

The  peculiar  impressions  of  geologically  modern  leaves  (dicotyle- 
donous] which  characterize  the  Dakota  Group,  are  wanting  in  the 
Niobrara.  Different  seas  now  prevailed,  and  as  is  evident  from  the 
fossil  animals,  to  be  noticed  hereafter,  a  warmer  climate.  Only  one 
leaf  impression,  to  my  knowledge,  has  been  obtained  from  this 
group  in  Nebraska.  It  was  found  in  the  Inoceramus  bed  in  Dakota 
County,  by  Hon.  Jesse  Warner,  and  presented  to  me  for  the  cabinet 
of  the  State  University.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  nerve  marks,  it 
could  not  be  certainly  identified,  but  its  external  form  was  that  of  a 
laurus. 

Fossil  wood,  however,  is  abundant,  both  petrified   and  agatised. 
Of  this  material  I  have  made  microscopic  sections  of  seventy-nine 
specimens,  which  under  the  microscope  showed  the  structure  of  the  J 
original  wood.     Of  these  seventy-nine  specimens,  forty-seven  be-s 
longed  to  the    conifers   of  araucarian  type,  and   the  balance  were ) 
cycads  and  zamias.     Judging  only  from  these  few  remains,  the   di-^ 
cotyledonous  vegetation  that   characterized   this  region  in    Dakota 
Group  times,  had  retreated,  where  to  is  not  certainly  known,  but  ^ 
probably  northward  or  northeastward.     A   southern   flora,  or   one 
that  had  reached  its  culmination  in   Jurassic   times,  returned   again 
to  this  region  by  migration.      At  the  same  time  a  few  species  from 
the  Dakota  Group  era   lingered   among  these   mediaeval  vegetable 
forms. 

Animal  Life  of  the  Niobrara  Group  Epoch. — The  chalk  of  Europe 
was  largely  made  up  of  remains  of  rhizopods  which  were  so  abun- 
dant that  a  cubic  inch,  according  to  Ehrenberg,  contained  millions 
of  these  low  organisms.  In  our  own  chalk  seas  they  were  probably 
little  less  abundant,  though  not  so  well  preserved.  Some  specimens 
of  chalk  that  I  obtained  below  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara,  and  in 
Cedar  County,  afforded  them,  under  the  compound  microscope,  in 


190  GEOLOGY. 

immense  numbers.  Often,  however,  no  trace  of  these  organisms  is 
left.  I  found  them  where  they  had  apparently  been  preserved  from 
crushing  first  beneath  the  huge  scale  of  a  fish,  and  then  in  the  hol- 
lows of  reptilian  vertebra.  As  in  the  European  chalk,  the  spicula 
of  sponges  are  occasionally  found  in  this  group. 

This  era  was  evidently  well  adapted  to  the  support  of  molluscan 
life,  though  the  number  of  species  is  less  than  from  the  preceding  and 
the  next  two  following.  The  number  of  individuals,  however,  is 
enormous.  One  of  the  last  tasks  that  the  lamented  Meek  performed, 
was  the  completion  of  his  great  work  on  the  Invertebrate  Palaeon- 
tology of  the  Cretaceous,  in  which  he  described  four  species  of 
mollusks  from  this  group.  One  of  these  was  a  species  of  oyster 
(Ostrea  congesta),  which  must  have  been  very  abundant,  as  remains 
of  it  are  found  in  every  stratum  of  this  group.  An  anomia  is 
found  principally  in  Knox  County.  An  oyster-like  shell  (Inocer- 
amus problemalicus],  and  a  variety  of  the  same,  are  the  most  abun- 
dant, some  whole  strata  being  almost  entirely  composed  of  it.  The 
Inoceramus  bed  is  so  named  from  the  abundance  of  this  shell.  Re- 
lated to  these  is  a  genus  represented  by  two  species  which  were  re- 
markable for  their  size.  They  were  described  by  Conrad,  and 
named  Haploscapha  grandis  and  H.  eccentrica.  The  former  is  of  gi- 
;  gantic  size,  being  twenty-seven  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  latter 
(nine  inches.  They  are  found  in  this  group  on  the  Republican, 
Solomon  and  the  Smoky  Hill.  In  the  stratum  of  yellowish  impure 
limestone  beneath  the  Inoceramus  bed  there  are  many  impressions 
of  ammonites  and  nautilus  and  other  chambered  shells.  They  are,, 
however,  so  poorly  preserved  that  it  is  impossible  to  identify  them 
with  any  certainty.  One  impression  of  an  ammonite  from  the  chalk 
in  the  cabinet  of  the  University  is  eighteen  inches  across. 

The  seas  of  this  era  swarmed  with  fishes.  In  the  chalk  in  Knox 
and  Cedar  counties,  for  over  a  hundred  feet  through  it  vertically, 
almost  every  spadeful  of  rock  contains  fish  scales  or  teeth  or  both. 
Many  of  the  species  were  of  reptilian  type,  or  at  least  were  pre- 
daceous  and  allied  to  the  modern  saury  or  salmon.  Cope  has  de- 
scribed forty-eight  species,  most  of  which  were  from  the  Niobrara 
Group  in  Kansas.  Many  of  these  I  have  identified  from  the  same 
group  in  Nebraska.  One  of  the  most  abundant  of  these  fishes,  and 
also  one  of  the  most  rapacious  that  ever  existed,  is  known  as  Por- 
theus  molossus. — Cope.  Its  bones  are  sometimes  found  to  project 
from  the  sides  of  the  limestone  bluffs  in  the  Republican  Valley. 


MEDIAEVAL    OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  191 

"  The  head  was  a  few  inches  longer  than  that  of  a  grizzly  bear, 
and  the  jaws  even  deeper  in  proportion  to  the  length.  The  muzzle 
was  shorter  and  deeper  than  that  of  a  bull-dog.  The  teeth  were 
long  cylindrical  fangs,  smooth,  glistening,  and  of  irregular  size. 
At  certain  points  in  each  jaw  they  projected  three  inches  above  the  1  ] 
gum,  and  were  sunk  one  inch  into  deep  pits,  being  thus  as  long  as 
the  fangs  of  a  tiger,  but  much  more  slender.  Two  pairs  of  such 
fangs  crossed  each  other  on  each  side  of  the  end  of  the  snout."  Six 
species  of  these  rapacious  fishes  have  left  their  remains  in  these 
rock,  and  probably  more  will  be  found  with  the  progress  of  dis- 
covery. 

In  this  group  in  Nebraska,  the  remains  of  sharks  are  quite  abun- 
dant. Many  fine  specimens  of  their  teeth  have  been  obtained  in 
the  Inoceramus  bed  at  Pleasant  Hill  in  Saline  County,  from  near 
Seward,  Milford,  and  in  Dakota  County.  Some  of  these  teeth 
represent  the  pavement  teeth  kind  {Cestraciont — Pycodus  Mortoni), 
and  others  the  common  modern  shark  family. 

Reptiles. — Many  reptilian  forms  from  the  west  have  been  de- 
scribed by  Leidy,  Marsh  and  Cope.  The  latter,  from  the  Niobrara 
Group  of  Kansas,  alone,  has  described  thirty-seven  species  of  rep- 
tiles. Many  of  these  I  have  identified  from  the  same  group  in 
Nebraska,  and  as  this  group  is  continuous  through  these  two  States, 
it  is  almost  absolutely  certain  that  they  all,  or  their  equivalents, 
swarmed  here  during  those  times.  What  adds  to  this  probability 
is  the  certainty  that  there  were  deeper  se^s  towards  the  northern  QuJ 
boundary  of  the  Niobrara  Group  waters.  u  In  the  deep  seas  of 
this  era  could  have  been  seen  an  animal  lying  on  the  water,  with  a 
body  of  elephantine  size.  Its  neck  was  twenty-two  feet  long, 
snake-like,  and  with  an  arrow-shaped  head.  One  minute  it  would 
run  this  long  neck  in  the  water,  and  then,  raising  it  up,  would  peer 
for  victims  over  the  deep.  Its  tail  was  also  of  serpent  pattern,  and 
served  to  balance  it  behind,  or  propel  it  through  the  water,  though 
it  also  had  two  pairs  of  paddle-like  limbs,  resembling  those  of  the 
Plesiosaurus,  from  which  it  differed  mainly  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  bones  of  the  breast.  This  is  the  Elasmosaurus platyurus,  (Cope), 
a  carniverous  sea  reptile  adapted  to  deep  water.  Its  total  length 
was  fifty  feet.  It  was  structured  to  swim  below  or  on  the  surface, 
and  while  lying  still  would  explore  the  depth  forty  feet  below  with- 
out changing  the  posture  of  its  body.  That  it  fed  on  fishes,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  scales  and  teeth  found  in  the  posibon  of  its  stomach." 


192  GEOLOGY. 

— Cope.  A  few  years  ago  a  magnificent  specimen  of  what  I  take 
to  be  this  reptile,  judging  from  a  photograph  submitted  to  me,  was 
found  in  Dixon  County,  at  the  edge  of  the  Missouri  bluffs.  Un- 
fortunately, it  fell  into  the  hands  of  men  who  cared  more  for  money 
than  for  science.  They  attempted  to  make  money  by  exhibiting 
it,  and  after  this  proved  a  failure,  gave  it  away  partly  by  piece 
meal. 

A  species  similar  to  the  last,  and  also  described:  by  Cope,  was  the 
polycotylus  latipinnis.  It  was  extraordinary  for  the  length  of  its 
neck  and  attenuated  head,  though  its  tail  was  short  and  massive, 
doubtless  to  balance  its  long  neck  while  moving  through  the  water 
and  capturing  its  prey.  It  was  a  powerful  swimmer,  as  is  evident 
from  its  two  pairs  of  paddles,  four  feet  long,  with  a  lateral  expanse 
of  from  eleven  to  twelve  feet.  The  bones  of  a  reptile  found  near 

/    Sheridan,  Kansas,  has  been  referred  to   the   genus  Plesiosaurus,  of 
..  -s    which    there   have  been  found  and  described  the  remains  of  many 

7  species  in  the  European  chalk.  The  two  preceding  and  this  last 
(Plesiosaurus  gulo)  are  the  only  ones  in  this  large  family  of  Saurop- 
tergia  that  have  yet  been  found  in  the  Cretaceous  in  the  West.  This 
is  evidently,  as  Cope  has  remarked,  because  of  the  presence  of  an- 
other order,  almost  entirely  absent  in  Europe,  but  the  real  rulers  of 
our  Cretaceous  seas — the  Pythonomorphs  or  Mososaurs  of  Leidy- 
These  reptiles  had  characters  that  related  them  to  the  lizards  and 
serpents,  and  in  the  absence  of  a  sternum,  to  tortoises  and  plesio- 
saurs.  They  pre-eminently  characterized  the  cretaceous  seas  oT 
America,  being  found  in  the  deposits  of  this  age  in  Alabama,  New 
Jersey,  and  especially  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  One-half  of  all 
ir  the  reptiles  found  here  belong  to  this  order,  but  only  four  species 
V  have  yet  been  found  in  Europe. 

It  was  Cope  who  first  made  known  the  wonderful  forms  of  these 
reptiles,  especially  the  mouth  parts.  Their  form  was  very  much 
elongated,  especially  the  tail.  The  head  was  long,  conical  and  flat, 
with  the  eyes  directed  upward  and  forward.  As  in  snakes,  the  roof 
of  their  mouth  was  furnished  with  four  rows  of  conical  large  teeth, 
which  were  not  structured  for  masticating,  but  for  seizing  their  prey. 
The  structure  of  their  jaws  was  unique  among  animals.  Though 
they  swallowed  their  prey  whole,  like  snakes,  they  were  without 
their  expansability  of  throat,  which  is  due  to  an  arrangement  of 
muscular  levers  "supporting  the  lower  jaw."  They  were,  how- 
ever, furnished  with  an  additional  joint  in  each  side  of  this  organ, 


MEDIEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES,  193 

nearly  midway  between  the  base  and  the  anterior  end.-  This  joint 
was  of  the  ball  and  socket  type,  which  enabled  it  to  make  an  angle 
outward,  and  thus  greatly  to  widen  the  space  between  the  two* 
halves.  This  arrangement,  in  fact,  seems  to  have  anticipated  that 
of  the  arms,  which  can  be  made  to  imitate  it  by  placing  the  hands 
close  together,  extended  forward  and  with  the  elbows  bowed  out.- 
The  ends  of  the  bones,  like  in  the  serpents,  were  only  bound  to- 
gether by  flexible  ligaments.  This  posture  of  the  arms  gives  a 
diamond  shaped  space,  and  represents  the  expansion  practiced  in 
these  reptiles  to  enable  the  passage  of  a  large  fish  or  other  victim. 
The  arms  only  represent  the  size  of  the  jaws  of  the  smaller  species, 
the  larger  ones  being  much  more  extended.  The  basal  half  of 
the  jaw,  like  in  all  other  reptiles,  is  attached  by  a  column-like 
bone  (quadrate  bone),  whose  shape  and  form  varies  a  great 
deal  in  the  different  species,  being  dependent  on  the  degree  of 
twist  to  be  allowed  or  needed.  In  consequence  of  this  peculiar 
structure,  the  mouth  of  the  gullet  must  have  been  prolonged  for- 
ward, and  the  throat  must  also  have  been  loose  and  baggy  like  that 
of  a  pelican.  Such  a  structure  would  also  necessitate  the  throwing 
forward  the  opening  of  the  wind  pipe  or  glottis,  as  this  is  always 
in  front  of  the  gullet.  The  tongue  must  also  have  been  far  for- 
ward, long  and  forked.  The  only  noise  that  could  have  been  made 
by  such  an  animal  would  be  a  hiss  like  in  the  serpents,  but  a  hiss 
which  for  loudness  would  resemble  distant  thunder.  They  were 
furnished  with  two  pairs  of  huge  paddles  "which  were  attached  to 
the  body  by  short  peduncles."  Their  tails  were  flattened,  but  their 
strokes,  aided  by  the  paddles,  must  have  sent  them  through  the 
water  with  great  velocity. 

The  most  gigantic  of  these  reptiles  (Liodon  proriger,  Cope),  at- 
tained a  length  of  not  less  than  seventy-five  feet,  and  probably 
much  greater.  This  species  was  very  abundant.  It  had  a  long, 
projecting  muzzle,  remotely  resembling  that  of  the  Atlantic  blunt- 
nosed  sturgeon,  but  the  ends  of  the  lower  jaw  were  much  more 
blunt  and  massive.  Such  an  arrangement  must  have  made  it  a 
terrible  ram,  and  no  doubt  it  often  stunned  its  victims  by  a  butt 
before  swallowing  them.  Liodon  dyspelar,  Cope,  was  perhaps 
equally  as  large  as  the  preceding,  but  by  no  means  so  abundant. 
Two  somewhat  smaller  species  of  Liodon  occupied  the  same  seas. 

A  genus  closely  related  to  the  last,  and  whose  remains  are 
specially  abundant  in  Nebraska,  is  Clidastes.  The  species  of  this 

'3 


194  GEOLOGY. 

genii's  were  more  flexible,  and  much  more  elegant  inform  than  the 
Liodons,  and  also  less  in  size.  "  Perhaps  to  prevent  their  distor- 
tions from  dislocating  the  vertebral  column,  they  had  an  additional 
pair  of  articulations  at  each  end."  (Cope.)  One  of  these  species 
Clidastes  tortor,  (Cope),  was  only  thirty  feet  long,  but  its  narrow 
pointed  head  had  a  length  of  thirty  inches.  Its  teeth  had  cutting 
edges  lengthwise  of  the  animal,  and  in  the  lower  jaw  were  eighteen 
in  number.  "  The  palate  was  armed  with  eleven  teeth."  The 
light  and  slender  bones  and  elongated  vertebrae  indicated  that  this 
reptile  was  of  exceptionally  slender  proportions.  The  largest  species 
{Clidastes  cineriaruni),  was  about  forty  feet  in  length.  Another 
species,  remarkable  for  its  elegance  and  lance-shaped  head,  was  de- 
scribed by  Marsh,  and  named  by  him  Clidastes  pumilus.  It  was 
only  about  twelve  feet  in  length.  Altogether,  Marsh  has  described 
from  the  Niobrara  Cretaceous  five  species,  Cope  three,  and  Leidy 
one  species. 

Closely  related  to  the  preceding  genus  is  that  of  Platecarpus. 
Of  the  species  assigned  to  this  genus,  seven  were  described  by  Cope 
and  four  by  Marsh.  These  reptiles  were  almost  equally  abundant 
with  those  in  the  preceding  genera  in  the  old  Niobrara  Cretaceous 
seas. 

Tortoises  have  long  been  known  from  the  Cretaceous  of  the  At- 
lantic coast,  but  have  only  lately  been  described  from  the  Niobrara 
group.  Three  genera  and  as  many  species  are  now  known.  The 
largest  (Protostega  gigas,  Cope),  had  a  spread  -of  expanded  flippers 
of  over  fifteen  feet.  The  ribs  in  this  species  did  not  entirely  coal- 
esce, and  in  its  entire  structure  it  was  like  an  ordinary  turtle  just 
hatched. 

European  writers  describe  an  immense  number  of  flying  reptiles 
(Pterosaurs],  from  the  chalk.  Prof.  Owen  and  Von  Meyer  first 
made  known  their  true  structure,  since  which  time  they  have  ex- 
cited much  interest  among  geologists.  All  sizes,  from  minute 
forms  to  those  with  an  expanse  of  twenty-five  feet  of  wing,  have 
been  found  in  the  European  chalk.  Those  that  I  found  in  Ne- 
braska were  so  fragile  that  they  fell  to  pieces  in  excavating  them. 
Prof.  Marsh  has  described  one  from  the  Niobrara  of  Kansas,  with 
a  spread  of  wing  of  eighteen  feet,  and  one  (Pterodactylus  ingens), 
with  a  spread  of  twenty-three  to  twenty-five  feet.  The  one  that 
Cope  has  described,  from  the  same  region,  (P.  umbrosus),  was  still 
larger,  having,  as  he  claims,  a  spread  of  twenty-five  feet.  Marsh 


MEDIEVAL   OR    MESOZOIC   TIMES.  195 

has  shown  that  the  American  pterosaurs  were  toothless,  differing 
in  that  respect  from  the  European,  and  for  this  reason  erects  them 
into  a  new  order,  called  Pteronodontia,  which  means  winged  tooth- 
less. One  of  these  flying  saurians,'  "(P.  ingens),  has  toothless 
jaws  four  feet  long."  Unquestionably  there  were  many  more  species, 
some  gigantic,  and  some,  as  in  Europe, small.  They  roamed  through 
the  air,  often  plunging  down  to  seize  fish  or  reptile,  they  would  fly 
away  to  some  rock  on  a  neighboring  coast  or  island  and  there  con- 
sume their  victims  at  leisure. 

No  crocodiles  have  yet  been  described  from  the  Niobrara  group, 
but  they  were  undoubtedly  present  in  that  old  sea,  as  they  existed 
in  the  preceding  and  subsequent  eras.  One  {Hyposaurus  Webbii^ 
Cope),  obtained  in  the  Fort  Benton  group  of  lead  colored  shales, 
was  about  ten  feet  long,  and  belonged  to  the  division  that  had  sub- 
biconcave  vertebra,  and  with  a  long  subcylindric  snout. 

Only  one  species  of  Dinosaurs  has  been  found  in  the  Niobrara 
group.  They  were  no  doubt  abundant  in  this  era,  but  the  condi- 
tions for  their  preservation  were  not  favorable.  Many  have  been 
found  in  the  geological  equivalent  of  the  Niobrara  in  New  Jersey. 
They  were  present  in  considerable  numbers  during  subsequent  Cre- 
taceous eras,  and  no  doubt  on  the  land  surfaces  of  the  time  they 
were  the  rulers. 

Birds. — Nothing  is  more  remarkable  about  this  marvelous  age 
than  the  peculiarities  of  its  bird  life.  Like  all  other  vertebrate 
forms,  it  was  almost  entirely  of  reptilian  type.  Thus  far  eleven 
species  have^  been  described  from  the  Niobrara  group  deposits. 
The  New  Jersey  green  sand  has  yielded  five  more.  The  Saururae 
were  the  most  remarkable,  as  they  combined  fish,  reptile  and  bird 
characters.  They  are  embraced  in  two  genera,  Ichthyornis  and 
A-patornis.  They  had  no  horny  beak,  like  modern  birds,  but  in  lieu 
of  it  they  had  slender,  thin  and  long  jaws,  filled  with  sharp  conical 
teeth  in  sockets,  numbering  at  least  twenty  on  each  side  below,  and 
Marsh  thinks  as  many  above,  though  that  could  not  be  ascertained 
from  the  specimens.  "  Their  vertebras  were  amphicoelous  or  bicon- 
cave, as  in  fishes  and  many  extinct  reptiles,  but  in  no  modern  bird-" 
— Marsh.  Of  the  former  there  were  two  species,  namely,  Ichthyor- 
nu  dispar  and  /.  celer.  The  generic  name  {Ichthyornis},  means  fish- 
bird,  referring  to  the  fish-like  structure  of  its  vertebrae.  They  had 
a  keel  on  the  breast,  like  modern  birds,  for  the  attachment  of  the 
muscles  of  flight.  Marsh  supposes  that  the  tail,  which  was  not 


196  GEOLOGY. 

found,  was  vertebrated  like  the  old  Jurassic  birds,  but  probably 
shorter  and  less  reptilian.  In  size  they  were  not  larger  than  pigeons,, 
but  were  capable  of  flight. 

Three  others  resembled  the  last  in  the  possession  of  teeth,  which, 
however,  were  placed  in  grooves  in  place  of  sockets.  They  had 
no  keel,  but  on  the  other  hand  had  ordinary  bird  vertebrae.  Two 
of  these,  namely,  Hesperornis  regalis  and  Lestornis  crassipes,  were  of 
gigantic  size,  the  former  being  five  and  a  half  feet  high,  and  the 
latter  six  feet.  This  combination  of  fish,  reptile  and  bird  characters 
is  so  unique  that  Marsh  has  erected  out  of  them  two  new  orders — 
OdontotormiE  (socket-toothed),  and  Odontolcce  (teeth  in  grooves),  and 
a  new  subclass — Oddntornithes.  (toothed  birds).  It  is  remarkable 
that  the  presence  of  these  toothed  birds  in  the  Niobrara  group  era 
— birds  that  had  not  yet  been  entirely  separated  from  the  fish  and 
reptile  classes — is  exactly  what  the  doctrine  of  evolution  demands. 
Modern  birds  are  the  most  specialized  of  all  animals,  but  these  old 
Cretaceous  forms  raise  the  dbubt  whether  they  are  most  reptile  or 
most  bird.  They  are  a  transition  form  between  the  two  classes. 

From  these  brief  outlines,  it  is  evident  that  there  was  a  most  vig- 
orous life  during  the  Niobrara  group  times.  The  oceans  swarmed 
with  many  kinds  of  fishes,  a  large  proportion  of  which  were  ra- 
pacious. Gigantic  reptiles  flourished  on  sea  and  land.  Flying- 
saurians  navigated  the  air;  many  of  them  of  huge  size.  Reptilian 
birds  abounded,  of  all  sizes,  from  diminutive  forms  to  gigantic  di- 
mensions. During  the  earlier  and  middle  portion  of  this  era,  the 
Niobrara  ocean  was  connected  on  the  west  with  the  Pacific.  Laterr 
the  sea  bottoms  were  raised  up  along  the  Rocky  Mountain  chain, 
giving  access  and  egress  alone  from  the  Gulf  on  the  south,  and  the 
Arctic  Ocean  on  the  northwest.  A  slow  process  of  elevation  con- 
tinued on  the  east  as  well  as  on  the  west,  contracting  this  ocean  to 
ever  narrower  limits.  A  reverse  movement  was  now  going  on 
from  what  was  taking  place  early  in  its  history.  Then  it  was  in 
process  of  subsidence,  now  it  was  in  process  of  slow  elevation. 
When  sand  bars  eventually  were  thrown  across  the  channels  of 
moving  waters,  much  of  its  life  was  imprisoned  and  gradually  de- 
stroyed. The  most  vigorous  species  and  individuals  would  last  the 
longest,  but  all  eventually  had  to  submit  to  the  inexorable  fate  of 
final  extinction. 


MEDIEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  197 


GHAPTBR  III. 

MEDIAEVAL  OR  MESOZOIC  TIMES    IN    NEBRASKA, 

CONTINUED. 

Fort  Pierre  Group  Cretaceous. — Its  Position  and  Extent. — Thickness. — 
Life  of  this  Epoch. — The  Fox  Hills  Group. — Its  Exposures,  Character  and 
Extent. — Its  Vegetable  and  Animal  Life. — Laramie  Group. — Where  Exposed, 
and  Probable  Presence  in  Nebraska. — Conformability  to  the  Preceding 
Groups. — Whence  its  Materials  were  Derived. — Its  General  <  haracter  and 
Thickness. — By  Whom  Explored. — Its  Great  Extent. — Its  Characteristic 
Feature. — Character  of  its  Flora,  and  the  Great  Number  and  Modern  Char- 
acter of  its  Species.— Animal  Life,  made  up  of  Marine,  Brackish  and  Fresh 
Water  Species. — Reptilian  Remains. — Transition  Character  of  this  Group. — 
Probable  Existence  of  Coal  in  the  Cretaceous  Groups  in  Nebraska.— -How 
this  can  be  Ascertained. — Close  of  the  Cretaceous  and  Transition  Period. 

FORT  PIERRE  GROUP 

THE  preceding  (Niobrara  Group)  era  came  to  a  close  by  a  con- 
tinuation of  that  process  of  elevation  that  eventually  drained 
the  region  where  its  deposits  now  constitute  the  surface  rocks. 
Here  and  there  the  deeper  portions  of  the  old  sea  beds  were  still 
filled  with  water  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  these  Fort 
Pierre  seas  in  Nebraska  were  at  this  time  connected  with  the  Ocean. 
However  that  may  be,  the  filling  up  of  these  seas  gave  us  the  pe- 
culiar deposits  of  this  era.  It  is  possible  that  the  elevation  going 
on  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  era  continued  until  the  whole  State 
was  a  land  surface.  The  great  inequalities  of  the  Niobrara  group, 
on  which  this  group  was  laid  down,  suggests  this  explanation.  It 
is  hard  to  conceive  a  sea  bottom  so  uneven  and  irregular.  If,  how- 
ever, it  was  first  elevated  into  dry  land,  and  exposed  to  sub-aerial 
action,  which  produces  inequalities  of  surface,  its  broken  character 
is  accounted  for. 

Two  regions  of  Nebraska  contain  these  deposits.  One  of  them 
is  in  northeastern  Nebraska,  in  Knox  County,  below  the  mouth  of 
and  for  a  short  distance  along  the  Niobrara.  The  other  is  on  the 
Upper  Republican,  towards  the  west  line  of  the  State. 

The  m  iterials  of  the  Fort  Pierre  group,  in  Nebraska,  are  made 
up  largely  on  the  Upper  Republican,  of  occasionally  thin  beds  of 


198  GEOLOGY. 

brownish  sandstone,  underlaid  by  dark  gray  plastic  clay,  calcareous 
shales,  sometimes  containing  sulphuret  of  iron,  and  more  rarely 
carbonaceous  matter.  A  large  amount  of  gypsum  is  present,  which 
often  has  the  form  of  selenite.  The  star-like  shapes  which  it  fre- 
quently assumes,  makes  it  desirable  for  cabinets.  The  masses  of 
selenite  scattered  over  these  deposits,  on  the  Missouri" bluffs,  beyond 
the  Niobrara,  has  given  them  the  name  of  shining  hills.  From  the 
occasional  presence  of  scales  of  fishes,  and  still  more  rarely  of  am- 
monites and  other  chambered  shells,  I  conclude  that  only  the  lower 
member  of  this  group  is  present  in  Nebraska. 

On  the  Upper  Republican  this  group  in  many  places  lies  beneath 
the  Tertiary,  and  can  only  be  seen  in  cuts  and  canyons,  and  the 
sides  of  bluffs  and  ravines.  It  almost  certainly  extends  from  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara  in  a  southwesterly  direction  across  the 
State.  Passing  beneath  the  Tertiary,  it  is  not  seen  again  until  the 
western  Republican  region  is  reached  in  Hitchcock  and  Dundy 
counties.  It  runs,  therefore,  proximately  parallel  to  the  Niobrara 
group,  and  on  its  northwestern  side. 

Clarence  King  unites  this  group  with  the  preceding  Niobrara 
and  Fort  Benton  group,  to  constitute  the  Colorado  group.  Hayden 
and  White,  on  the  other  hand,  attach  it  to  the  next  above,  or  Fox. 
Hills  group.  King's  reason  for  this  reference  is  lithological.  That 
is,  in  the  character  of  its  rocks  and  other  deposits  it  is  much  like 
the  preceding  groups.  Hayden  and  White  refer  it  to  the  Fox  Hills 
groups  or  palasontological  grounds,  its  animal  life  being  more  nearly 
like  that  of  the  next  era. 

The  Fort  Pierre  sea  that  extended  diagonally  across  the  State 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara  and  beyond  represents  a  depression 
left  or  made  after  the  elevation  of  the  Niobrara  group  area  above 
the  old  oceans.  As  already  intimated,  it  is  questionable  whether 
this  interior  sea  of  Nebraska  was  connected  with  the  ocean,  except 
for  a  very  brief  period.  The  rarity  of  organic  remains  in  this  ter- 
ritory in  this  group  is  indicative  of  that  unfitness  for  life  which 
characterizes  a  sea  that  is  losing  more  water  by  evaporation  than  it 
gains.  Gypsum,  which  is  so  abundant  in  this  deposit,  is  also  formed 
under  the  same  circumstances.  Hence  the  vegetable  and  animal  life 
that  it  here  at  first  possessed  gradually  but  surely  was  exterminated. 

Elsewhere,  however,  it  was  very  different.  While  this  region 
was  steadily  rising,  further  northward  and  westward  it  was  for  a 
time  slowly  sinking,  and  had  direct  communication  with  the  ocean. 


MEDIEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  .         199 

At  Fort  Pierre,  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  this  group  constitutes  the 
hrlls  along  the  Missouri,  and  extends  to  the  Bad  Lands.  From 
Fort  Pierre  it  also  extends  northward  to  the  Cheyenne  and  Moreau 
Rivers,  where  it  dips  beneath  the  Fox  Hills  group.  It  also  occurs 
on  the  Yellowstone. — (Meek  and  Hayden.) ,  As  already  observed,  it 
extends  from  Fort  Pierre  to  the  Great  Bend,  below  which,  to  be- 
low the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara,  it  rests  on  the  uneven  surface  of 
the  Niobrara  group.  This  group  is  met  with  again  on  the  eastern 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  northward  to  and  beyond  the 
Black  Hills.  It  is  seen  westward,  along  the  line  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  on  and  beyond  the  Laramie  Plains.  Where  the 
grayish  black  carbonaceous  shales  and  marls,  and  the  nearly  black 
arenaceous  clays  prevail,  and  no  superficial  deposits  cover  them, 
they  give  a  barren,  bleak  appearance  to  the  country. — (Meek.) 

The  thickness  of  this  group  on  the  Upper  Missouri  is  not  less 
than  700  feet.  There  are  a  few  localities  where  it  is  even  greater. 
It  was  therefore  a  very  long  era;  so  long,  indeed,  that  the  ages  of 
human  history  are  as  nothing  compared  with  it.  During  all  this 
time  a  large  portion,  and  after  the  middle  of  the  era  the  greater  por- 
tion of  what  is  now  Nebraska  was  again  an  extended  land  surface. 

Life  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  Epoch. — From  the  few  vegetable 
remains  in  the  form  of  petrified  and  agatized  wood  that  has  been 
preserved,  it  is  evident  that  the  vegetable  kingdom  was  represented 
mainly  by  the  forms  that  characterized  the  preceding  era.  These, 
it  will  be  remembered,  were  mainly  cycads,  zamias,  araucarian  con- 
ifers and  tree  ferns. 

The  animal  life  of  the  seas  was  probably  richer  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding era  in  molluscan  forms,  and  poorer  in  reptilian  life.  The 
Cretaceous,  the  last  period  of  Mesozoic  times,  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  and  with  it  its  characteristic  life. 

Meek  has  described  one  echinoderm  from  this  group.  He  has 
also  described  two  species  of  oysters  and  several  varieties.  Closely 
related  to  the  oysters  were  two  Gryphaea  and  eleven  species  of 
Inoceramus.  Some  of  these  were  of  great  size  and  beauty.  Ino- 
ceramus  sagensis  was  nearly  six  inches  long.  /.  vanuxemi  was  still 
larger,  being  ten  inches  long  and  nine  inches  high.  The  bivalves 
seemed  to  have  been  specially  abundant,  as  besides  the  preceding, 
Meek  has  described  thirty-five  species.  Thirty  species  of  univalves 
have  also  been  described.  There  were  many  beautiful  chambered 
shells.  Two  baculites  were  abundant.  Among  the  eighteen  ad- 


200  GEOLOGY. 

•ditional  species  of  chambered  shells  there  were  seven  of  Heteroceras 
and  one  Placenticeras;  This  last  was  a  form  of  exceptional  beauty. 
P.  Placenta  was  equally  fine.  The  three  partially  uncoiled  scaphites 
;show  the  beginning  of  a  return  to  the  original  form  of  chambered 
shells.  The  three  species  of  Nautilus  are  as  perfect  as  the  finest 
from  existing  seas.  Fish  life  was  abundant.  Reptiles  were  pres- 
ent, but  not  in  such  amazing  numbers  as  in  the  preceding  era.  The 
commonest  kind  being  species  of  Mosassaurs. 

This  era  was  closed  by  a  further  elevation  of  the  country  in  Ne- 
braska, on  the  Upper  Missouri  and  wherever  this  group  now  con- 
stitutes the  upper  rock  of  a  region. 

THE    Fox  HILLS  GROUP. 

No  deposits  of  this  group  are  exposed  in  Nebraska,  and  it  is  un- 
certain whether  any  exist  in  the  State.  If  they  are  present,  they 
underlie  the  Tertiary  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State.  As 
this  group  constitutes  the  surface  or  upper  rock  in  the  Fox  Hills, 
from  which  it  was  so  named  by  Hayden,  above  Moreau  River,  on 
the  upper  Missouri,  and  near  Long  Lake,  above  Fort  Pierre,  it  is 
possible  that  it  also  runs  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  and  underlies 
the  Tertiary  in  northwestern  Nebraska,  as  stated  above.  In  doing 
so  it  would  follow  the  law  of  the  preceding  groups  in  Nebraska, 
each  of  the  newer  following  after  the  preceding  on  its  northwestern 
side.  This  group  is  also  found  along  the  base  of  the  Big  Horn 
Mountains,  on  the  North  and  South  Platte  Rivers,  and  at  other 
points  in  the  mountains.  Its  thickness  is  about  five  hundred  feet. — 
(Meek  and  Hayden.)  It  is  largely  composed  of  gray  ferruginous 
and  yellowish  sandstone  and  arenaceous  clays.  During  the  depo- 
sition of  these  deposits,  the  greater  part  of  Nebraska  *was  an  ex- 
tended land  surface.  Nebraska  doubtless  drained  into  this  Fox 
Hills  sea,  but  the  sediments  that  filled  it  up  were  derived  mainly 
from  land  surfaces  on  the  west  and  north,  as  is  indicated  by  their 
character.  That  it  was  also  a  long  period,  is  evident  from  the 
thickness  of  the  deposits — 500  feet  in  the  region  of  the  upper  Mis- 
souri. According  to  Clarence  King,  (Systematic  Geology,  p  349), 
east  of  the  North  Platte  and  north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
in  Wyoming,  its  maximum  thickness  is  4,000  feet.  At  the  most 
rapid  rate  of  deposition,  the  time  involved  in  laying  down  such  a 
mass  of  sediment  is  beyond  calculation.  According  to  Hayden, 
Meek  and  Lesquereux  and  others,  it  was  the  closing  portion  of 


MEDIEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  201 

-Cretaceous  and  Mesozoic  times  in  the  West.  Clarence  King,  Le 
Comte,  Stevenson,  Powell,  Newberry  and  Cope,  however,  regard 
the  next  group  above  (Laramie  Group  of  King  and  Hayden),  as  the 
•closing  member  of  the  Cretaceous.  It  will,  however,  suit  my  present 
plan  best  to  consider  the  Laramie  (also  called  by  Hayden  Lignitic 
Group)  as  the  transition  group  from  the  Cretaceous  to  the  Tertiary. 

The  vegetable  remains  found  in  the  Fox  Hills  group  still  indicate 
the  presence  of  cycads,  zamias,  tree  ferns  and  araucarian  pines,  but 
in  greatly  diminishing  proportionate  numbers.  There  is  already  a 
large  admixture  of  more  modern  tree  forms. 

Animal  life  was  specially  rich  in  molluscan  forms,  closely  related 
to  that  of  the  preceding  group,  or  Fort  Pierre  fauna.  Like  the 
latter,  it  contains  the  remains  of  many  chambered  shells,  such  as 
baculites  and  scaphites,  the  latter  being  specially,  abundant  and 
beautiful.  No  more  beautiful  shell  ever  existed  than  Scaphites  Con- 
radi,  which  is  found  in  these  deposits.  Other  unrivaled  shells  and 
bivalves  were  also  abundant.  Vertebrates  were  represented  by  nu- 
merous fishes  and  some  large  reptiles,  the  commonest  being  in  the 
Fort  Pierre  group,  Mosasaurus  Missouriensis.  No  doubt  the  plains 
of  Nebraska,  during  this  epoch,  was  the  home  of  huge  Dinosaurs 
and  reptilian  birds,  but  their 'remains,  under  the  geological  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  could  not  be  preserved  to  us. 

LARAMIE  GROUP. 

This  is  the  Lignitic  group  of  Hayden,  but  changed  to  Laramie 
by  mutual  agi  cement  between  Dr.  Hayden  and  Clarence  King. 
Like  the  preceding,  it  is  not  exposed  in  Nebraska,  but  may  be 
present  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  underlying  the  Ter- 
tiary. A  line  joining  the  Laramie  on  the  Missouri  and  its  eastern 
exposures  in  Colorado,  would  pass  across  northwestern  Nebraska. 
As  this  grcup  is  known  in  numerous  places  to  pass  under  the  Mio- 
cene, its  presence  in  northwestern  Nebraska  in  the  same  position 
is  not  impossible.  However  that  may  be,  it  represents,  even  more 
than  the  preceding,  a  very  long  epoch,  and  the  history  of  our  plains, 
the  greater  part  of  which  at  least  wras,  during  its  continuance,  a 
land  surface,  can  only  be  surmised  by  studying  the  character  of  this 
group,  and  the  events  which  it  represents. 

It  is  the  last  of  that  series  of  groups,  commencing  with  the  Da- 
kota, that  are  conformable  through  their  united  thickness  of  not 
less  than  12,000  feet  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region.  Of  these 
12,000  feet  of  sediment,  four-fifths  are  of  sandy  materials,  more  or 


202  GEOLOGY. 

less  mixed  with  calcareous  deposits,  which  were  derived  mainly 
from  a  land  mass  that  was  raised  up  at  the  close  of  the  Carbonifer- 
ous, and  extended  from  the  Wasatch  west  of  the  meridian  of  117° 
30'  for  200  miles  westward,  and  for  an  unknown  distance  north  and 
south. — (King.)  The  materials  of  this  land  mass  were  mainly  silic- 
ious,  and  fully  seven-tenths  of  the  deposits  that  constitute  these 
cretaceous  rocks  came  from  their  disintegration  and  erosion.  At 
the  close  of  each  epoch  represented  by  these  groups,  the  shore  line 
of  the  old  interior  cretaceous  ocean  retreated  farther  to  the  west  and 
northwest.  By  the  time  the  Laramie  epoch  was  reached,  it  was> 
during  much  of  the  time,  only  a  vast  marsh  or  bog,  full,  no  doubt,, 
of  low  islands,  and  subjected  often  to  incursions  from  the  sea,  and 
again  constituting  an  estuary,  and  occasionally  even  becoming  a 
fresh  water  lake.  All  this  is  evident  from  its  vegetable  and  animal 
remains,  which  sometimes  are  marine,  sometimes  land,  and  some- 
times of  brackish  and  fresh  water  types.  From  the  Triassic  to  the 
Cretaceous,  and  through  its  groups  to  the  upper  boundary  of  the 
Fox  Hills,  only  marine  forms  are  found,  except  in  a  very  few  in- 
stances where  a  few  fresh  water  species  exist  underlaid  and  over- 
laid by  a  true  cretaceous  fauna. 

The  materials  of  this  Laramie  Group  are,  like  the  preceding,, 
principally  sandstones,  but  varying  a  great  deal  more  in  litho- 
graphic character  in  different  sections.  Intercalated  with  the  sand- 
stones, at  various  horizons,  are  clayey  and  shaly  layers,  and  a  few 
beds  of  pure  clay,  and  many  strata  of  carbonaceous  shales.  The 
principal  colors  are  buff,  pink,  red  and  various  shades  of  yellow* 
Sometimes  the  dip  is  slightly  east  or  west,  or  even  entirely  horizon- 
tal. Its  undulations  are  wave  like,  and  the  inclination  of  the  flanks 
are  always  under  5°  or  6°. — (Clarence  King.)  The  thickness  of  this 
series  of  beds  ranges  from  1,500  to  5,000  feet. 

This  group  can  be  studied  to  great  advantage  at  the  exposures 
along  the  railroad  east  of  Separation  station,  where  colored  sand- 
stones, some  clayey  beds,  and  a  number  of  coal  seams,  leaf  impres- 
sions and  carbonized  stems  are  found,  and  often  exposed.  No- 
where, however,  is  it  seen  on  a  grander  scale  than  in  the  Upper 
Missouri,  where  it  was  first  noticed  and  reported  on  by  Lewris  and 
Clarke,  as  early  as  1804.  From  a  Mandan  village  on  the  Missouri,, 
they  traced  these  lignitic  measures  to  the  Yellowstone,  and  for  a 
great  distance  along  this  river.  The  length  of  these  measures,  as 
observed  by  these  explorers,  was  over  six  hundred  miles.  After- 


MEDIJEVAL.   OR    ME8OZOIC   TIMES.  203 

wards,  Audubon  and  Morris  explored  the  same  region,  and  gave 
details  similar  to  those  of  Lewis  and  Clarke.  No  one,  however,  has 
done  so  much  to  make  known  the  character  and  the  great  extent  of 
this  group  as  Dr.  Hayden.  Commencing  his  explorations  in  1854, 
and  continuing  them  down  to  the  present  time,  he  reduced  to  order 
the  data  which  others  as  well  as  himself  accumulated.  Lesquereux> 
speaking  of  his  work  in  this  field,  remarks:  "  His  researches  show 
the  constant  vigilance  and  circumspection  of  a  master,  attending  to 
the  performance  of  a  great  work,  the  building  of  a  monument 
whose  plan  has  been  prepared  by  serious  scientific  studies."  Hay- 
den  considers  that  the  area  of  the  Lignitic  (Laramie)  on  the  Upper  j 
Missouri  cannot  be  less  than  100,000  square  miles,  without  taking  j 
into  account  the  great  belt  that  extends  far  north  from  the  United 
States  into  British  America.*  Altogether,  from  British  America 
to  the  Black  Hills,  the  area  covered  is  not  less  than  125,000  square 
miles.  Between  the  Black  Hills  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  there 
is  still  another  area  of  1,700  square  miles.  The  extent  of  the 
southern  basin,  which  commences  south  of  Cheyenne  and  extends 
to  the  Colorado  plains,  east  of  Denver,  and  southward  to  New 
Mexico,  has  not  yet  been  estimated. 

The  most  characteristic  feature  of  this  group,  as  already  indicated r 
is  the  great  number  of  carbonaceous  shales  and  true  coal  beds 
which  it  contains.  Fifteen  and  twenty  coal  beds  sometimes  occur 
in  the  course  of  a  thousand  feet. — (King).  Artesian  borings  at  Rock 
Springs  station  in  700  feet  brought  to  light  seventeen  coal  seams, 
the  principal  bed  being  eleven  feet  thick.  Some  beds  are  known  | 
and  worked  that  are  over  thirty  feet  in  thickness.  When  the  great 
extent  of  this  coal  field  is  considered,  it  becomes  apparent  that  it  is 
only  second  in  importance  to  the  coal  fields  of  the  Carboniferous 
Age.  As  is  well  known,  the  coal  belongs  to  the  series  of  lignites, 
and  is  a  superior  article. 

Vegetable  Life. — The  vegetable  kingdom  had  now  become  clearly 
modern,  the  Mesozoic  features  having  passed  away.  The  Flora  of 
this  group  has  been  carefully  studied  by  Lesquereux,  who  has  de- 
scribed from  this  and  the  Green  River  Groups  329  species.  This  is 
probably  only  a  fragment  of  the  rich  flora  of  that  time,  but  it  is 
enough  to  show  its  general  character,  and  the  kind  of  forests  that 
must  have  obtained  also  over  the  land  surface  of  Nebraska. j-  In 


*Hayden's  Annual  Report  for  1874,  p.  20. 

jSee  Lesquereux's  Tertiary  Flora,  Vol.  VII.  of  IT.  S.  Geological  Surveys  of  the  Territories, 
F.  V.  Haydeii,  Geologist. 


204  GEOLOGY. 

his  list  of  Flowerless  plants  (Crypt ogamice),  there  are  a  few  fungi, 
one  lichen,  eight  algae,  one  moss,  four  lycopods,  twenty  ferns,  four 
colamites,  etc. 

The  Flowering  Plants  (Phcznogamice),  were  most  fully  developed. 
Among  the  naked  seeded  were  one  zamiae  and  sixteen  cone-bearing 
trees.  These  latter  first  appeared  in  the  Devonian,  and  apparently 
culminated  in  the  Tertiary,  from  which  at  least  200  species  have 
been  described.  Among  these  in  the  Laramie  Group  were  eight 
sequoias,  the  genus  to  which  the  giant  trees  of  California  belong. 
Five  species  of  grasses  have  also  been  described.  The  Palms, 
"those  noble  children  of  the  sun,"  were  represented  by  at  least 
three  genera  and  fifteen  species.  One  beech  (Fagus),  flourished  at 
that  time.  No  family,  however,  surpassed  in  the  number  of  indi- 
viduals the  Oaks  (Quercus),  of  which  eighteen  species  have  been 
described  from  this  group.  At  the  present  time  there  are  only 
thirty  species  known  to  the-entire  United  States.  Even  the  Chest- 
nut (Costanea),  was  then  already  present.  Four  species  of  Willow 
(Saltx)  must  have  been,  judging  from  their  remains,  abundant. 
Curious  enough,  the  Cottonwood  (Populus)  was  then  represented 
by  at  least  twelve  species.  The  Sycamores  (Platinus)  have  left 
the  remains  of  five  species  in  this  group.  Most  wonderful  of  all  is 
it  that  already  twenty-three  species  of  Fig  tree  ('Ftcus)  have  been 
described.  Whether  their  fo62,was  equal  to  the  fig  of  the  present 
time,  is  uncertain,  but  if  so,  the  monkeys  that  appeared  in  the  Green 
River  Eocene  had  fine  living.  Ash  (Fraximus),  Dogwoods  (Cor- 
nus),  and  the  Grape-vine  ( Vitis],  were  all  at  home  in  this  group. 
That  noble,  majestic  and  beautiful  named  tree,  the  Magnolia,  which 
is  the  pride  of  the  south,  flourished  during  these  times,  as  the  re- 
mains of  four  species  attest.  Eight  species  of  the  Maple  family 
(Acerinecz),  and  nineteen  of  the  Buckthorn  (Rhamnece},  also  abounded. 
That  noble  tree,  the  Black  Walnut  (Juglans),  which  had  appeared 
first  in  the  Dakota  Group  Cretaceous,  had  now  increased  to  six 
species.  Five  species  of  Sumach  (Rhus)  were  in  company  with  the 
last.  Even  an  Eucalyptus  flourished  at  this  time.  Many  other 
forms,  to  which  my  limits  will  not  permit  me  even  to  allude,  illus- 
trate the  wonderfully  rich  and  divergent  type  of  the  Flora  at  that 
time — a  Flora  that  combines  many  semi-tropical  and  high  temper- 
ate characters. 

Animal  Life. — The  Animal  life  of  the  Laramie  Group  has  been 
regarded  as  unique  and  exceptional.  Its  marine  forms  are  al- 


MEDIAEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC  TIMES.  205 

most  entirely  Cretaceous,  while  its  lacustrine  species  are  most  closely 
allied  to  the  Tertiary.  Oysters  (Ostrea)  are  the  most  abundant  in 
species  and  individuals  of  all  the  marine  forms. 

The  following  marine  mollusks  of  Cretaceous  type  are  reported 
from  this  group;  the  first  three  being  given  by  King,  and  the  re- 
mainder by  Meek.* 

Avicula  Nebrascana. 
Nucula  cancellata. 
Ammonites  lobatus. 
Ostrea  glabra. 
Ostrea  subtrigonalis. 

The  following  brackish  water  species  are  also  given  from  this 
group,  by  Meek : 

Cyrena,  one  species. 
Carbicula,  five  species. 
Carbula,  three  species. 
Certhida,  one  species. 
Hydrobia,  five  species. 
Micropyrgus,  one  species. 

The  following  are  the  fresh  water  species : 

Unios,  four  species. 
Sphaerium,  five  species. 
Limnasa,  one  species. 
Planorbis,  four  species. 
Bullimus,  three  species. 
Goniobasis,  nine  species. 
Viviparus,  eight  species. 
Campeloma,  three  species. 
Valvata,  three  species. 

There  are  some  others  inhabiting  both  brackish  and  fresh  water, 
A  few  land  shells  of  the  genera,  Helix  and  Hyalina  are  also  found 
mingled  with  the  above. 

The  most  remarkable,  however,  of  all  the  facts  connected  with 
the  animal  remains  of  this  group,  is  the  presence  of  reptilian  re- 
mains of  Cretaceous  type.  At  Black  Buttes  station,  about  half-way 
up  the  base  of  the  bluff,  are  laminated  light  gray  shales  over  a  coal 


*See  Meek's  Invertebrate  Palaeontology  of  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  Fossils  of  the  Upper 
Missouri,  Vol.  IX.  of  U.  S.  Geological  Surveys,  F.  V.  Hayden,  Geologist. 


206  GEOLOGY. 

bed  two  feet  thick.  Here  are  found  marine  and  fresh  water  shells. 
About  100  feet  from  the  top,  in  a  dark  gray  sandstone  filled  with 
leaves  and  stems,  Bannister,  and  afterwards  Cope,  exhumed  the 
body  of  a  Dinosaur  (Agathaumus  sylvestre).  Four  species  of  Dino- 
saurs have  also  been  described  by  Leidy,  from  the  Judith  beds 
(Laramie)  in  Montana.  Still. others,  from  this  same  group  in  Col- 
orado, have  been  described  by  Cope. 

It  is  therefore  a  fact  that  a  Cretaceous  vertebrate  fauna  flourished 
during  this  Laramie  epoch.  According  to  Lesquereux  and  New- 
berry,  a  Tertiary  flora  existed  here  at  the  same  time,  as  we  have 
already  seen.  Cope,  summing  up  the  evidence,  remarks:  "There 
is,  then,  no  alternative  but  to  accept  the  result  that  a  Tertiary  Flora 
was  contemporaneous  with  a  cretaceous  fauna,  establishing  an  uninter- 
rupted succession  of  life  across  what  is  generally  regarded  as  one  of 
the  greatest  breaks  in  geological  times."  "The  appearance  of 
mammalia,  and  sudden  disappearance  of  Mesozoic  types  of  reptiles 
in  the  immediately  next  epoch,  may  be  regarded  as  evidence  of  mi- 
gration, and  not  of  creation.  Lizards,  tortoises  and  crocodiles,  con- 
tinue from  the  Mesozoic  through  the  Tertiary  to  our  own  time, 
without  great  modification  of  structure.  The  Dinosauria,  how- 
ever, disappeared  from  the  land,  exterminated  by  the  more  active 
and  intelligent  mammal.  Herbivorous  reptiles,  like  Agathaumas 
and  Cienodon,  would  have  little  chance  in  competing  with  the 
powerfully  armed  mammals  of  Tertiary  times.  This  transition 
series,  therefore,  of  Hayden,  is  such  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  and 
Paleontology  demonstrates  his  conclusion  "  that  there  is  no  real 
physical  break  between  the  well  marked  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary 
Groups."  This  rich  Tertiary  flora  and  Cretaceous  fauna  flourished 
then  during  this  epoch  also  over  the  plains  and  in  the  lakes  of  Ne- 
braska. 

COAL  IN  THE  CRETACEOUS. 

No  question  about  the  Cretaceous  in  Nebraska  is  more  frequently 
asked  than  this:  Is  there  coal  in  workable  quantity  in  any  of  the 
groups  of  this  period  in  Nebraska?  There  is  no  question  about 
the  Cretaceous  in  the  mountains  being  coal  bearing.  On  this  sub- 
ject, Clarence  King  observes*:  "  In  the  extreme  western  exposures 
in  the  territory  of  the  Wasatch  and  Uinta  ranges,  coal  beds  appear 
at  the  very  base  of  the  series,  immediately  upon  the  capping  mem- 
bers of  the  Jura;  and  from  that  horizon  to  the  summit  of  the  series, 


*Systematic  Geology,  p.  539. 

* 


MEDIAEVAL   OR   MESOZOIC   TIMES.  207 

throughout  the  whole  12,000  feet,  they  recur  in  that  region.  They 
increase  in  frequency  after  the  close  of  the  Fox  Hills  Group,  and 
are  most  abundant  through  the  4,000  or  5,000  feet  of  the  closing  or 
Laramie  Group  of  the  series."  In  illustration  of  this  statement,  it 
is  reported  by  Emmbns  that  a  bed  of  coal  ten  feet  thick,  of  excel- 
lent quality,  is  located  south  of  the  Uinta  at  Ashley  Creek,  in  the 
Dakota  Group.  Of  equal  excellence  is  another  bed  of  coal  of  equal 
thickness  in  the  Fort  Benton  Group,  higher  up  in  the  series,  but 
near  the  same  place.  Another  thick  coal  bed,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Uintas,  is  reported  by  Marsh,  in  the  Niobrara  Group.  Coal 
is  also  reported  in  workable  quantities  in  the  Fort  Pierre,  and  in 
still  larger  quantities  in  the  Fox  Hills  Group.  The  inference, 
therefore,  is  legitimate  that  there  were  betimes,  during  the  progress 
of  the  Cretaceous  Age,  extended  land  surfaces  in  this  region,  fol- 
lowed by  subsidences. 

Were  there  such  subsidences  and  land  surfaces  in  Nebraska  dur- 
ing this  period?  Thus  far  none  to  the  same  extent  have  been 
found.  At  a  few  places  in  the  Dakota  Group,  and  also  in  the  Fort 
Benton,  thin  beds  of  lignite  have  been  found.  The  thickest,  thus 
far,  have  been  observed  in  Dakota  and  Dixon  counties,  where  they 
range  from  six  to  sixteen  inches,  but  the  lignite  coal  is  of  inferior 
quality.  As  the  strata  are  almost  horizontal,  and  few  canyons  cut 
through  them,  their  study  in  Nebraska,  in  the  absence  of  borings, 
is  difficult.  It  is  possible,  though  hardly  probable,  that  at  some 
points  in  our  extended  territory  there  may  be  basins  of  coal  of  good 
quality  in  these  deposits.  Even  in  the  mountains,  the  thick  beds 
occupy  depressions  in  the  strata,  and  soon  thin  out,  only  to  increase 
again  in  thickness  farther  on.  To  settle  this  question  in  Nebraska 
definitely,  will  require  many  borings,  over  a  large  area  of  our  ter- 
ritory. One  of  the  most  favorable  regions  for  testing  for  these 
lignite  coals  is  in  northern  and  northwestern  Nebraska. 

CLOSE  OF  THE  CRETACEOUS  AND  TRANSITION  PERIODS. 

With  the  close  of  the  Laramie  epoch,  the  whole  series  of  con-  . 
formable  strata,  which  had  commenced  with  the  Dakota  Groups 
ceased.  When  the  last  sediments  of  the  Laramie  Group  had  been 
laid  down,  there  occurred  one  of  the  great  geological  revolutions  in 
the  history  of  the  globe.  Frorn  the  eastern  base  of  the  mountains 
to  the  Wasatch,  the  whole  region  was  thrown  into  a  series  of  folds, 
and  undulations.  The  Uinta  Range,  with  its  broad,  flat  anticlinal, 


208  GEOLOGY. 

was  made  at  this  time.  The  whole  chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountain,, 
was  lifted  up,  so  as  to  leave  a  broad  depression  eastward  of  the 
Wasatch,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  Uintas. — (King.)  The  Laramie 
Group  was  turned  up  at  all  angles,  from  a  few  degrees  to  a  vertical 
position,  as  it  is  now  found  in  many  places  beneath  the  superincum- 
bent Tertiary.  This  upturning  affected  also  the  Cascade  Range, 
which  was  then  first  outlined.  The  whole  region  of  the  plains 
sympathized  with  this  movement,  so  that  they  became  an  extended 
land  surface.  Nebraska  now  certainly,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
early  Cretaceous,  over  its  whole  territory  became  a  land  surface. 
The  elevation  in  the  mountains  became  sufficient  to  give  free  drain- 
age to  the  sea,  and  exclude  the  oceanic  waters.  The  great  interior 
sea  became  so  completely  exterminated,  and  the  continent  so 
elevated,  that  it  has  never  since  been  subjected  to  the  sway  of  the 
ocean.  Henceforward,  fresh  water  lakes  became  dominant,  down 
to  the  borders  of  our  own  times. 


THE     CENOZOIC    AGE.  209 


CHAPTER  IV, 


THE  CENOZOIC  AGE  IN  NEBRASKA.  —  EOCENE 
TERTIARY  EPOCH. 

Causes  that  Produced  the  Cenozoic  Age.  —  Tertiary  Period.  —  How  Divided. 
—  Eocene  and  Its  Divisions  in  the  West.  —  Eocene  Not  Represented  in  Ne- 
braska. —  Why  Discussed  Here.  —  Its  Peculiar  Modern  Vegetable  and  Animal 
Life,  and  its  Origin.  —  Vermillion  Group  of  the  Eocene.  —  Its  Vegetable  and 
Animal  Life.  —  Green  River  Group,  and  Its  Organic  Remains.  Fort  Bridger 
Group,  and  Peculiar  Scenery.  —  Its  Animal  Remains.  Uintah  Group.  —  Close 
of  the  Eocene. 


culmination  of  those  physical  changes  that  had  been  in  pro- 
JL  gress  during  the  whole  of  the  latter  portion  of  the  Cretaceous 
period  inaugurated  the  Cenozoic  Age.  We  have  already  seen  that 
successive  portions  of  ihe  old  Cretaceous  sea  bottoms  became  dry 
land.  After  the  Dakota  and  Fort  Benton  groups,  the  first  extended 
land  surface  wrested  from  the  Cretaceous  sea  was  the  Niobrara 
Group.  Portions  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  were  next  added.  The 
Fox  Hills  and  Laramie  are  not  exposed  in  Nebraska,  but  both  may 
and  probably  do  exist  in  northwestern  Nebraska  beneath  the  super- 
incumbent Tertiary.  In  fact,  the  Cretaceous  period  came  to  a  close 
by  a  very  gradual  uplift,  not  of  single  mountain  masses  or  chains, 
but  by  the  elevation  of  the  whole  western  portion  or  half  of  the 
continent,  along  with  mountain  folding.  Heretofore  the  highest 
portion  of  the  continent  existed  in  the  east  with  the  Appalachian 
chain  as  the  central  axis;  now  it  came  to  be  the  western  portion, 
with  the  Rocky  Mountains  as  the  main  axis. 

The  emergence  of  the  continent  was  most  complete  towards  the 
north.  The  great  American  Mediterranean  Sea,  which  from  the 
middle  Cretaceous  period  had  extended  from  the  Wasatch  to  the 
meridian  of  eastern  Nebraska  and  middle  Kansas,  had  separated 
the  continent  into  two  elongated  bodies  of  American  land.  This 
great  sea  had  now  become  virtually  extinct  by  the  continued  conti- 
nental uprising,  thus  "  giving  free  drainage  to  the  sea,  except  along 
a  basin-like  depression  extending  from  the  Wasatch  Range  east- 

H 


210  GEOLOGY. 

ward  to  the  meridian  of  107°  30',  with  a  north  and  south  extension 
not  yet  definitely  known.  This  depression  was  immediately  occu- 
pied by  an  early  Eocene  lake,  whose  northern  portion  corres- 
ponded with  approximate  accuracy  to  the  present  drainage  basin  of 
/  Green  River.  Southward  it  extended  through  portions  of  Utah, 
Y__  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  and  probably  Arizona." — (Clarence  King). 
Along  with  this  uprising  of  the  western  portion  of  the  continent,, 
there  was  an  epoch  of  mountain  making  at  the  close  of  the  Laramie 
period,  as  already  stated.  The  Wasatch  and  Uinta  mountains- 
were  further  folded  and  raised,  and  the  Colorado  range  was  greatly 
elevated.  This  folding  helped  to  make  the  depression  towards  the 
Wasatch  and  on  each  side  of  the  Uintas,  which  became  the  bed 
of  the  great  Eocene  lake,  referred  to  above.  This  emergence  to- 
wards the  north,  and  on  the  west  of  the  continent,  the  greater  ele- 
vation of  its  mass,  and  the  retreat  of  the  seas  necessarily  produced 
great  changes  of  climate.  The  mean  temperature  had  gradually 
become  lower,  and  the  extremes  greater.  The  climate  also  became 
drier.  And  yet  it  was  warmer  and  moister  than  at  present,  as  is- 
evident  from  the  vegetable  and  animal  life  of  the  time.  All  the 
old  Cretaceous  forms  had  disappeared,  or  had  been,  by  changes  of 
environment,  transformed  into  the  modern  representatives.  Thus 
was  inaugurated  the  Cenozoic  Age. 

The  Cenozoic  Era,  or  Age  of  Mammals,  comprises  two  periods^ 
namely:  First,  The  Tertiary;  second,  The  Quaternary. 

TERTIARY  PERIOD. 

Lyell  divided  the  Tertiary  into  three  divisions,  which  were 
named  from  the  number  of  species  of  fossil  shells  which  they  con- 
tain, and  which  are  living  in  existing  seas.  They  are  the  Eocene, 
Miocene  and  Pliocene.  Other  divisions  are  in  use  in  the  east  and 
south,  but  as  Lyell's  method  is  most  convenient,  and  his  divisions 
the  most  characteristic  of  the  west,  they  are  followed  in  this  work. 

Eocene  Epoch. — As  already  stated,  there  are  no  deposits  of  this 
period  in  Nebraska.  During  the  whole  of  it,  Nebraska  was  an 
extended  land  surface.  The  forces  that  had  finally  lifted  the  conti- 
nent from  the  embrace  of  the  sea,  during  the  closing  centuries  of 
the  Cretaceous  period,  had  extended  their  work  to  the  region  of  the 
plains,  and  made  them  dry  land.  During  the  whole  of  the  Eocene,, 
therefore,  Nebraska  was  an  extended  land  surface.  What  really 
occurred  here  during  this  period,  can  only  be  inferred  from  the  veg- 


THE    CENOZOIC   AGE.  211 

etable  and  animal  life  that  is  found  entombed  in  the  Eocene  beds 
of  the  mountains.  The  record  there  is  comparatively  full — here 
there  is  none  whatever.  At  the  present  day  nearly  500  species  of 
Nebraska  plants  grow  in  the  mountains,  and  on  the  foot-hills. 
The  proportion  of  animals  common  to  the  two  regions  is  still 
greater.  In  Eocene  times  the  differences  in  level  and  climate  were 
probably  not  near  so  great  as  now.  It  is  therefore  highly  probable 
that  the  larger  number  of  vegetable  and  animal  forms,  that  then 
flourished  around  the  shores  of  this  old  Eocene  lake  in  the  moun- 
tains, also  lived  in  Nebraska.  Unfortunately,  many  species,  also, 
that  then  existed  here  did  not  range  so  far  west,  and  therefore  no  * 
memorials  of  their  presence  have  been  preserved. 

Clarence  King  has  recognized  four  groups  of  the  Eocene,  which 
he  has  named  as  follows: 

1.  Vermillion  Creek  Grotip. — This  is  the  Wasatch  Group  of  Hay- 
den.     Lowest  Eocene,  5,000  feet  thick. 

2.  Green  River  Group. — Hayden   and    King.      Middle   Eocene, 
2,000  feet  thick. 

3.  Fort  Bridger  Group. — Hayden  and  King.     Lower  and  middle 
horizon  of  the  upper  Eocene,  2,500  feet  thick. 

4.  Uinta  Group. — King.     Upper  Eocene,  shading  into  Miocene, 
500  feet  thick. 

In  these  groups  we  have  the  most  complete  memorials  of  the 
higher  land  and  fresh  water  life  of  the  Eocene  of  the  continent. 
The  Gulf  Alabama  Eocene  beds  are  much  less  complete,  as  they 
begin  at  a  much  higher  horizon  than  the  Vermillion  beds.  As  the 
Eocene  is  not  present  in  Nebraska,  I  will  omit  the  lithological  and 
physical  description  of  these  beds,  referring  only  to  such  particulars 
as  may  throw  light  on  Nebraska's  geological  history  during  those 
times. 

The  Length  of  the  Eocene  Epoch  was  very  great.     This  is  inferred  ^  ->. 
from  the   12,000  feet  of  sediments  that  were    accumulated    in   the    )  / 
bottom  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Eocene  lakes.     Many  of  the  sedi- 
ments of  the  Green  River  and    Fort    Bridger   groups   are  of  the 
character  that  accumulate  with  extreme  slowness.     A  large  part, 
too,  of  the  upper  beds,  where  they  constitute  the  surface  rocks,  has    ' 
been   removed  by  erosion.      Their    original    thickness,    therefore, 
must  have  been  much  greater  than  at  present.     The  estimates  of 
time,  however,  are  made  from  the  remnants  of  these  beds.      It  has 
been  estimated  that  at  the  most  rapid  rate,  not  more  than  one-fourth 


212  GEOLOGY. 

of  an  inch  of  solid  sediment,  on  an  average,  could  accumulate  in  a 
year.  It  was  probably  far  less  rapid  than  that,  but  even  at  that 
rate,  over  half  a  million  of  years  were  required  to  accumulate  these 
12,000  feet  of  sediments  that  are  left  from  these  old  lake  beds. 
During  the  progress  of  these  deposits,  there  were  occasional  oscil- 
lations of  level  and  interruptions  in  the  accumulation  of  materials. 
This  is  indicated  by  the  shifting  of  the  shore  lines  westward,  and 
the  slight  unconformability  of  the  Green  Riverbeds  with  the  under- 
lying Vermillion. 

We  can  best  understand  the  progressive  movements,  and  the  ad- 
vanced position  of  those  times  by  considering  the  vegetable  and 
animal  life  which  is  found  entombed  in  its  various  groups. 

It  was  the  great  changes  in  climate  resulting  from  the  changes 
in  physical  geography,  that  either  exterminated  the  vegetable  and 
animal  life  of  the  preceding  Cretaceous  period,  or  by  gradual  change 
of  environment  transforming  them  into  the  advanced  stages  which 
they  exhibited  during  the  opening  centuries  of  the  Eocene. 

Life  during  the  Vermillion  Creek  Period.  Wasatch  of  Hayden. — In 
the  sediments  of  this  group  (5,000  feet  thick),  have  been  found,  and 
described  by  Lesquereux,  forty-six  species  of  plants.  Among  these 
are  found  the  following  notable  forms:  One  Cypress  (Taxodium 
.dubium),  one  Giant  Cedar  (Sequoia  Heerii),  one  Sweet  Gum  Tree 
{Liqitidamber  gracilis),  six  species  of  Cottonwood  (Populus),  one 
Alder  (Alnus  Kefersleinii),  one  Birch  (Betula  Stevensoni\  five  Oaks 
,  two  Hazel-nuts  (Corylus),  two  Beeches  (Fagus),  five  figs 
,  two  Sycamores  (.Platanus],  two  Dogwoods  (Cornus),  one 
Magnolia,  one  Papaw  (Asimina  mioceneca),  one  Grape-vine,  three 
Walnuts  (Juglans),  and  twenty-one  other  species.  These  vegetable 
forms,  according  to  Lesquereux,  are,  when  compared  with  Euro- 
pean fossils,  all  of  Miocene  type,  though  found  here  in  the  lower 
Eocene.  In  fact,  of  the  fifty-six  species,  thirty-one  are  identical 
with  the  European  Miocene,  or  the  Arctic  Miocene  Flora.  Accord- 
ing to  the  same  authority,  they  are  indicative  of  a  warm  temperate 
climate.  This  is  specially  indicated  by  the  presence  of  the  Magno- 
lia, Fig  Trees,  Sequoias  and  Cypress. 

Animal  Life  of  the  Vermillion  Group  Epoch. — The  peculiarity 
that  marked  the  animal  life  of  the  earliest  Eocene  was  the  sudden 
appearance  of  mammals  of  a  high  type.  Though  highly  generalized 
compared  with  their  more  modern  representatives,  the  transition 
forms  connecting  them  with  the  animals  of  the  preceding  Cretace- 


THE  -CENOZOIC   AGE.  213 

cms  period  are  unknown.  If  the  period  of  transformation  was  the 
preceding  Laramie  period,  which  is  regarded  by  Hayden  as  a 
transition  group  between  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary;  then  the  ev- 
olution of  their  forms  occurred  elsewhere,  where  no  records  have, 
been  preserved.  It  probably,  however,  was  near  by,  and  may  have 
been  the  region  of  the  plains  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska;  and  if  so, 
during  the  early  Eocene  they  came  by  migration  around  the  shores 
of  the  Vermillion  lake,  in  whose  sediments  their  remains  were  pre- 
served. 

The  distinguishing  peculiarity  among  the  mammals  that  now 
appeared  in  large  numbers  was  the  tapiroid  features  that  marked 
them  all.  They  were  mostly  odd  toed  (Perissodactyls},  like  birds 
and  dinosaurs.  It  has  been  observed  by  zoologists  that  as  dinosaurs 
in  the  character  of  the  sacrum,  vertebra,  ischium,  etc.,  were  related 
to,  or  had  mammallian  characters,  so  the  tapiroid  mammals  of  the 
Eocene  had  also  dinosaurian  features.  The  dinosaurs  were  still 
more  closely  in  their  organization  related  to  birds,  so  that  it  is  un- 
certain of  many  of  them  whether  they  were  most  reptile  or  bird. 
It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  at  some  time  along  the  transition  pe- 
riods of  the  Mesozoic  the  dinosaurian  branch  divided,  one  part  pro- 
ceeding towards  or  transforming  into  birds,  and  the  other  into  the 
mammalia. 

Among  the  lower  Eocene  Vermillion  animals  Cope  has  des- 
cribed three  small  species  of  carniverous  animals,  having  more  or 
less  of  the  then  common  tapiroid  characters. 

The  hoofed  (Ungulatd]  animals  are,  however,  the  most  interest- 
ing. Fifteen  species  of  these  are  from  this  group.  Six  of  them  be- 
long to  the  famous  Dawn  Horse  Family  (Eohippus),  and  have 
been  described  mainly  by  Marsh.  They  wrere  about  the  size  of  a 
fox,  and  had  three  toes  on  the  hind  foot  and  five  on  the  front,  four 
of  which  were  serviceable,  and  one  splint  (metacarpei)  that  did  not 
touch  the  ground,  but  probably  carried  a  rudimentary  thumb  toe, 
"  like  a  dew  claw."  Unlike  the  modern  horse,  "  the  bones  of  the 
leg  and  forearm  were  not  yet  distinct." — (Marsh.) 

The  Vermillion  beds  from  which  these  animals  were  procured 
have  been  called  \h&Cary,phodonbeds^  from  the  presence  of  remains 
of  animals  that  have  received  that  designation.  These  peak-toothed 
animals  (Caryphodons^  of  which  four  species  have  been  described, 
were  peculiar  in  their  highly  generalized  type  of  foot  and  tooth 
structure.  They  had  five  hoofed  toes,  and  their  general  structure 


214  GEOLOGY.      » ' 

connected  them  with  tapirs  and  such  generalized  carnivores  as 
bears.  Cdryphodon  elephantopus  was  about  the  size  of  a  small 
elephant,  but  some  of  the  species  were  much  smaller  than  the  mod- 
ern tapir. 

Another  group  of  animals  described  from  these  beds  by  Marsh, 
were  named  Tillodontla.  Like  the  preceding,  they  were  highly 
generalized  in  structure,  and  combined  the  hoofed  toes  of  the  Un- 
gulata  with  the  head  of  the  bears  and  the  incisor  teeth  of  the  ro- 
dents. Thus  far  four  clearly  defined  species  have  been  described. 
Among  reptiles  several  species  of  crocodiles  and  many  turtles  have 
been  obtained. 

Green  River  Group. — This  group  is  unconformable  to  the  pre- 
ceding, indicating  some  changes  of  level  preceding  its  deposition. 
It  overlaps  the  Vermillion  group  towards  the  west  at  least  200 
miles  (King).  The  sediments  that  constitute  this  group  are  2,000 
feet  thick,  and  are  exceedingly  fine,  indicating  their  deposition  in 
deep  waters.  In  some  localities,  such  as  Barrel  Springs,  south  and 
east  of  Cathedral  Bluff--,  the  shales  of  this  group  are  extremely 
carbonaceous,  and  are  intercalated  with  fine,  sandy  members. 
Many  leaf  impressions  are  found  in  them,  and  numerous  fresh  wa- 
ter shells. 

Vegetable  Remains  of  the  Green  River  Group. — Lesquereux  has 
described  82  species  of  plants  from  this  group,  but  their  general 
facies  is  remarkably  distinct  from  that  of  the  preceding  deposits. 
Among  these  plants  are  six  ferns,  two  species  of  Equisetae,  eleven 
conifers  and  nine  grains  and  grasses  (Glumaceoe).  The  willows 
(Sallx)  were  represented  by  three  species,  the  oaks  (Quercus)  by 
five,  hollies  (Ilex)  by  four,  sumac  (Rhus)  by  two,  and  walnuts 
(Juglans]  by  six  species.  Fig  trees,  the  Cyprus,  the  giant  cedars, 
and  the  ash  were  still  present,  but  the  palms  were  gone.  It  con- 
tains only  a  remnant  of  the  Flora  of  the  preceding  group.  Les- 
quereux, in  studying  this  Flora,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  rep- 
resented a  vegetation  characteristic  of  "  high  land,  covered  with 
lakes,  swamps,  and  deep  forests  of  conifers  with  a  thick  under- 
growth of  ferns  and  shrubs."  In  the  Tertiary  it  has  its  analogue 
with  the  Flora  of  Oeningen  in  Switzerland,  or  upper  stage  of  Eu- 
ropean Miocene.  As  this  vegetation  is  an  upland  flora,  it  is  prob- 
able that  it  does  not  so  fully  represent  the  vegetable  forms  that  ob- 
tained on  the  plains  of  Nebraska  during  this  period  as  the  preced- 
ing Vermillion  Group  epoch.  % 


THE    CENOZOIC   AGE.  215 

Animal  Lije  of  the  Green  River  Group. — As  already  stated,  fresh 
water  shells  were  exceedingly  abundant.  Fish  seemed  to  be  enor- 
mously abundant,  at  least  in  individuals,  though  the  number  of  gen- 
era represented  are  comparatively  few.  One  of  the  commonest  of 
genera  is  Clupea,  of  which  some  half  a  dozen  of  species  have  been 
clearly  distinguished.  Our  existing,  shad  and  herring  belong  to 
this  group.  Several  other  genera,  each  represented  by  from  one 
to  seven  species,  have  been  described.  Turtles  were  abundant  in 
this  old  lake.  But  with  the  exception  of  a  crocodile  described  by 
Leidy,  about  the  size  of  the  one  living  in  the  Nile,  the  higher  rep- 
tiles of  the  period  were  not  preserved.  In  mammallian  life  it  does 
not  compare  with  the  preceding  or  the  next  group. 

Fort  Bridger  Group. — The  areas  of  the  Bridger  beds  are  sur- 
rounded by  strata  of  the  Green  River  formation,  which  pass  under 
them,  exhibiting  slight  nonconformity. — (King.)  They  are  2,500 
feet  thick.  "  The  materials  are  largely  made  up  of  almost  uniform 
buff  and  gray  marls,  and  clays,  interrupted  at  several  horizons  by 
beds  of  peculiar  green  earth."  "  Fine  sand  and  clay  predominate, 
arranged  in  varying  proportions,  and  occasionally  changed  by  cal- 
careous admixtures.  It  is  a  sand  and  clay  formation,  while  the 
preceding  Green  River  group  is  highly  calcareous."  The  Bridger 
beds  are  intricately  eroded  into  all  kinds  of  fantastical  architectural 
forms.  At  and  near  Cherokee  Ridge  a  line  of  bold  escarpments 
extend  northeast  for  fourteen  miles.  Here  the  Bridarer  beds  rise 

o 

300  feet  above  the  level  valley,  and  present  many  abrupt,  nearly  ver- 
tical faces,  worn  into  innumerable  architectural  forms.  Often  out- 
liers stand  detached  in  bold,  isolated  blocks,  which  have  been  sculp- 
tured by  the  winds  into  many  singular  forms.  Sometimes  enor- 
mous masses  project  from  the  main  wall,  the  stratification  lines  be- 
ing traced  by  the  creamy,  gray  and  green  sands  and  marls,  which 
resemble  courses  of  gigantic  masonry.  Narrow  galleries  often  pro- 
ject far  into  these  labyrinths.  The  whole  appearance  is  like  a  line 
of  Egyptian  structures.  Among  the  most  interesting  forms  are  the 
isolated  blocks,  often  over  100  feet  in  height,  which  are  the  last  rel- 
icts of  the  b^Js  which  once  covered  this  region.  The  plains  skirt- 
ing these  "  Bad  Lands"  are  quite  level,  there  seldom  being  any 
talus  at  the  bottoms  or  base  of  the  cliffs.  The  excessive  fineness  of 
the  materials  is  leveled  by  the  water  agencies  that  have  for  so  long 
a  period  been  producing  erosion. — (King.) 


216  GEOLOGY. 

The  Briclger  beds  are  most  remarkable  for  the  animal  remains 
which  they  have  preserved,  and  which  has  made  them  classic, 
ground  for  the  geologist.  From  the  above  description  it  is  seen 
that  they  are  eminently  adapted  for  the  preservation  of  animal  re- 
mains. At  the  foot  of  almost  every  cliff  can  be  found  some  remains 
of  turtles  or  mammals. 

Animal  Life  of  the  Fort  Bridge r. — Moluscan  life  was  abundant,, 
but  I  can  only  refer  to  the  vertebrate,  and  espe'cially  to  the  mam- 
malian life  of  the  time. 

Fishes  were  represented  by  numerous  forms,  among  which  were 
species  of  Phineaster,  closely  related  to  the  modern  catfish,  several 
species  of  gars  and  many  kinds  of  mud  fish,  as  Amia.  Closely  re- 
lated to  the  last  are  numerous  species  of  Pappichthys,  some  of 
which  are  classed  by  Marsh  with  Amia.  Marsh  has  also  described 
many  species  of  serpents,  one  genus  of  which  (JBoanus)  was  allied 
to  our  water  snakes.  The  saurians  were  represented  by  many  spe- 
cies, which  have  been  mainly  described  by  Leidy  and  Marsh.  The 
most  abundant  of  these  are  the  crocodiles,  of  which  at  least  six  spe- 
cies have  been  defined.  Many  others,  closely  related  to  the  croco- 
diles, are  found  in  the  same  localities,  among  which  the  Glyplo- 
saurus  and  Thinosaurus  were  also  described  by  Marsh.  The  tur- 
tles (Chelonid)  were  also  present  in  large  numbers.  Species  of  the 
genus  Emys  were  most  abundant,  though  there  were  also  many  of 
the  soft  shelled  kind  (Trionyx),  and  of  several  other  genera.  Some 
of  them  were  small,  but  many  of  them  were  of  gigantic  size.  Some 
of  the  land  turtles  of  the  genus  Hadrianus,  described  by  Cope,  were 
from  twenty-five  to  twenty-nine  inches  in  length,  and  proportion- 
ately broad.  They  were  probably  the  largest  of  all  the  extinct 
land  tortoises. 

True,  birds  seem  to  have  been  abundant.  One  of  the  first  de- 
scribed from  this  group  was  a  form  allied  to  an  owl,  and  called  by 
Marsh  Bubo  leptosteus.  One  genus  of  waders  {Alletornis},  was 
represented  by  five  species.  The  remains  of  a  woodpecker  {Uintot- 
nis  Uucaris),  have  also  been  described  by  Marsh. 

The  highly  generalized  Tillodontia,  that  appeared  already  in  the 
Vermillron  group,  were  here  represented  by  several  genera.  Of 
these,  species  of  Tellotherium  were  the  most  abundant.  With  these 
fossils  are  mingled  many  species  of  rodents. 

The  hoofed  odd-toed  ( Ungulata]  animals  were  present  in  great  num- 
bers. One  of  these  genera,  of  which  several  species  have  been  de- 


THE    CENOZOJC    AGE.  217 

scribed  by  Leidy,  he  has  named  Paleosyops  paludosus.  It  had 
forty-four  teeth,  and  formed  nearly  an  unbroken  arch.  The  canines 
were  proportionately  as  large,  and  of  the  same  form  as  in  the  bears. 
It  was  about  the  size  of  the  existing  tapir  of  South  America.  In 
tjie  structure  of  the  mouth  and  teeth  it  resembled  the  Paleotherium 
of  the  European  Eocene.  From  the  structure  of  its  mouth,  Leidy 
concludes  that,  like  the  bears,  it  was  omniverous.  Another  species 
(P.  majo?'},  was  as  large  as  the  Indian  Rhinoceros..  Several  other 
species  have  been  described.  A  still  more  curious  species,  described 
by  Leidy,  was  the  gnawing  hog  (Trogosus).  The  two  species  ot 
this  genus  combined  the  characters  of  the  tapirs  with  those  of  the. 
gnawing  animals.  The  incisor  teeth  did  not  .extend  so  far  back  as 
in  the  rodents,  and  in  this  respect  approached  the  hog  and  pecary. 
Unlike  the  rodents,  however,  the  worn  slope  of  the  incisors  is 
directed  both  backwards  and  forwards.  No  canines  existed  ap- 
proaching in  this  respect  the  Hyrax,  Mastodon,  Elephant  and 
Rhinoceros. 

Another  tapir-like  genus  of  animals  was  the  Hyrachyus,  of  which. 
six  species  have  been  described  by  Leidy,  Marsli  and  Cope.  They 
differed  from  the  South  American  tapir  only  generically,  and  aver- 
aged about  the  same  in  size.  From  the  great  numbers  of  their  re- 
mains, they  must  have  been  exceedingly  abundant  during  this 
period.  Thus  one  of  the  animal  forms  most  common  in  North 
America  in  Eocene  times  still  persists  in  the  tropical  regions  of  this 
continent.  Many  other  genera  of  tapiroid  species  have  been  de- 
.  scribed  from  this  basin  to  which  I  cannot  even  allude. 

The  Mountain  Horse  (Orohippus],  similar  to  the  Eohippus  of  the 
Vermillion  beds,  but  wanting  the  fifth  toe,  is  also  found  in  this  group. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  mammals  yet  discovered  in  rocks 
of  any  geological  age,  are  the  Dinocerata,  which  received  that  name 
from  Marsh,  who  regards  them  as  the  type  of  a  distinct  and  new 
order.  He  gave  them  this  name  because  of  the  peculiarities  of 
their  heads,  which  were  armed,  some  of  them  with  three  and  some 
of  them  with  two  pairs  of  horns.  They  were  "  terribly  horned." 
Cope,  on  the  other  hand,  does  not  attach  the  same  weight  to  these 
characters,  and  merely  considers  them  to  be  a  sub-family  of  the  ele- 
phants {Proboscidians}.  He  claims  that  they  had  trunks  similar  to 
the  elephants.  Marsh  denies  this,  on  the  ground  that  the  naral 
opening  and  general  structure  of  the  head  unfitted  it  for  carrying  a 
large  trunk  or  proboscis,  and  because  their  short  limbs  and  longer 


-I 


218  GEOLOGY. 

necks  enabled  them  to  reach  the  ground  for  food  without  the  help 
of  such  an  appendage.  The  heads  of  most  of  the  species  were  ex- 
tremely elongated,  but  the  limbs  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to 
those  of  the  elephants.  One  pair  of  horns,  of  small  size,  was 
placed  above  the  nasal  bones,  far  forward;  the  second  pair,  some- 
what larger,  above  the  canines  on  the  maxillary  bones;  and  a  third 
pair,  of  large  size,  on  the  parietal  bones,  far  back  on  the  head. 
Large  canines  from  the  upper  jaw  extended  in  a  slight  curve  down- 
ward, varying  in  length,  on  the  different  species,  from  five  to  ten 
inches.  They  had  no  incisor  teeth. 

'  Cope  recognizes  four  genera  of  these  remarkable  animals.  Leidy 
first  made  them  known  in  his  description  of  Uintdtherium,  of  which 
three  species  at' least  are  now  known.  Subsequently  Marsh  and 
Cope  described  other  genera  and  species,  and  no  little  confusion  has 
been  produced  by  the  different  names  ascribed  by  different  investi- 
gators to  the  same  species.  Cope's  type  genus,  and  species  is  Lox- 
olophodon  cornutus  ( Tinoceras  grandis,  Marsh).  This  species  is 
perhaps  most  remarkable  for  the  narrow  form  of  the  cranium, 
which  at  its  middle  is  only  one-fourth  its  length.  The  horn 
cores  diverge,  "having  in  their  upper  portion  an  outward  curvature." 
*  *  "  Its  form  and  proportion  of  body  was  similar  to  that  of  an 
elephant,"  but  its  limbs  were  shorter,  and  its  tail  was  quite  small. 
The  neck  was  longer  than  that  of  the  elephants,  but  shorter  than 
that  of  the  rhinoceros.  The  hind  pair  of  horns  towered  far  above 
the  others,  "extending  vertically,  with  a  divergence  when  the  head 
was  at  rest."  Cope,  contrary  to  Marsh,  claims  that  the  muzzle 
could  not  have  reached  the  ground  by  several  feet,  and  that  there- 
fore a  proboscis,as  in  elephants  and  tapirs,  was  a  necessity.  The 
horns  were  probably  palmate. 

Eobasileus  is  another  genus  of  the  family  established  by  Cope, 
but  which  may  be  included  in  the  preceding.  It  was  about  the 
same  height  as  Loxolophldon,  but  more  slender.  The  muzzle,  too, 
is  shorter  and  more  contracted,  as  also  the  horn  sheaths.  Still  an- 
other genus  of  this  remarkable  family,  described  by  Leidy,  wras 
Megaceratops.  It  was  about  the  size  in  bulk  of  body  to  a  small 
elephant. 

re-SathnTodontidaB  were  a  group  of  animals  closely  allied  to  the 

OX  J 

preceding.  Cope  has  described  four  species  from  deposits  of  this 
age.  The  neck  was  longer  and  the  dentition  more  complete  than 
in  the  preceding  forms  of  this  order.  They  stood  in  even  closer  re- 
lation to  the  odd-toed  animals  than  even  the  Eobasileus. 


THE    CENOZOIC   AGE.  219 

The  Insectivera  (animals  with  molars  having  short  points)  were, 
represented  by  many,  genera  and  species,  indicating  a  great  fullness 
of  insect  life  during  the  early  Eocene  times. 

The  Carnivora  were  already  abundant.  They  were  like  the 
preceding  orders,  of  a  remarkably  comprehensive  type.  One  of 
the  most  curious  was  the  Mesonyx  abtusidens,  described  by  Cope. 
It  was  as  large  as  our  timber  wolf,  but  with  a  more  slender  body 
behind.  The  cheek  bones  were  more  prominent  than  in  the  wolves 
and  the  tail  more  like  that  of  the  dogs.  The  phalanges  of  the  first 
series  were  elongated  and  curved,  as  in  the  cats,  but  like  the  dogs 
it  walked  on  its  toes  (digitigrade).  The  foot,  moreover,  was  short, 
and  the  claws  flat  and  more  adapted  to  aquatic  use  than  prehensile 
(grasping).  The  number  of  its  molars  exceeded  that  of  any  recent 
families  of  carnivora.  The  teeth,  though  sectorial,  are  not  so  to  the 
same  extent  as  in  existing  carnivora,  the  cutting  edge  being  dull  and 
uccupying  but  half  the  crown.  While,  therefore,  dog-like,  it  had 
many  characters  relating  it  to  other  families.  Still  more  curious 
was  an  animal  called  by  Cope  Synoplotherium  lanius.  Its  claws 
approximated  in  character  to  the  seals.  The  lower  canines  pro- 
jected forwards,  and  were  of  large  size  and  came  so  close  together 
that  there  was  no  room  in  front  for  the  incisors.  They,  however, 
rested  against  the  incisors  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  latterly  against 
the  upper  canines.  In  other  particulars,  this  animal  resembled  the 
bears  and  the  hyagnodons  that  appeared  in  the  next  or  Miocene 
epoch.  The  peculiar  approach  and  projecting  form  of  the  lower 
canines,  was  doubtless,  as  Cope  has  suggested,  a  modification  of 
structure  for  special  habits,  which  was  the  destruction  and  devour- 
ing of  turtles,  which  so  wonderfully  abounded  on  land,  lake  and  sea, 
during  early  Eocene  times. 

Sinopa  rapax  was  an  animal  that  was  intermediate  in  position 
between  the  wolves  and  the  dogs,  and  about  the  size  of  the  red  fox. 
Canis  montanis  is  described  by  Marsh  as  a  species  of  wolf,  larger 
than  the  grey  wolf. 

Patriofelis  ulta  (Father  of  the  Cats?)  described  by  Leidy,  was 
related  to  the  panther  and  the  dog  family,  with  some  characters 
approaching  the  weasels  and  civets.  It  was  considerably  larger 
than  the  former. 

.The  Quadrumana,  the  order  to  which  the  monkeys  and  man  be- 
longs, were  represented  during  this  period  by  at  least  eight  species, 
among  which  the  following  were  characteristic  forms.  Timotheri- 


220  GEOLOGY. 

um  had  a  long  thigh,  free  from  the  body,  a  forefoot  capable  of  be- 
ing set  down  flat,  and  a  form  of  lower  iaw  and  teeth,  similar  to 
that  of  the  lower  modern  monkeys.  The  form  of  the  humerus  and 
its  relative  length  to  the  femur,  resembles  that  of  the  lemurs.  *  * 
"  The  greatest  difference  is  that  of  the  increased  number  of  teeth, 
which  related  them  in  this  respect  to  the  ancient  carnivora  and  un- 
gulata,"  all  of  which  had  more  teeth  than  their  modern  congeners. 
(Cope).  The  genus  Anaptomorphus  represents  a' group  more  nearly 
related  to  the  existing  types  of  Madagascar  and  South  Africa. 
None  of  these  quadrumana  of  the  Fort  Bridger  Group  are  typical 
forms,  and  all  are  much  more  generalized  than  existing  families.* 

The  above  species  represent  only  a  very  small  number  of  the 
extinct  species  found  in  this  group,  but  they  will  serve  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  remarkable  life  that  flourished  during  those  times — 
times  "  when  the  existing  orders  of  the  mammalia  were  yet  in  pro- 
cess of  differentiation,  and  were  scarcely  distinctly  defined." 

UINTA  GROUP. 

South  of  the  Uinta  Mountains  there  is  a  small  group  of  Ter- 
tiaries,  about  five  hundred  feet  thick,  which  constitute  the  closing 
deposits  of  this  period.  They  have  been  called  the  Uinta  Group 
by  King.  The  materials  at  the  bottom  are  gritty,  rough  conglom- 
erates, shading  upward  into  finer  grained  sandstone,  and  at  certain 
points  into  beds  of  creamy,  impure  limestone.  "The  strata  seem 
to  form  an  unbroken  line  from  the  region  of  the  Wasatch  east- 
ward through  the  length  of  Uinta  Valley,  across  Green  River, 
into  the  valley  of  tha  White  River.  The  animal  remains  which 
are.  found  in  this  group,  especially  in  White  River  Valley,  belong 
to  a  more  advanced  Eocene  period  than  the  Bridger  series.  They 
contain  sonTfc  forms  approximating  to  the  lowest  Miocene  types." — 
(King.)  It  is  not  improbable  that  these  beds  represent  the  transition 
period  between  the  Eocene  and  Miocene.  Among  the  important 
vertebrates  of  this  series  are  the  following: 

Hyopsodus  gracilis  was  a  small  animal,  related  in  many  of  its 
characters  to  the  hog  family.  It  was  of  small  size,  and  retained 
some  tapiroid  elements.  Epihippus  Uintensis  and  E.  gracilis  were 
small,  horse-like  animals  of  this  period,  closely  related  to  the  oro- 
hippus  of  the  Bridger  beds,  but  showing  a  structure  approximat- 
ing to  the  Mesohippus  of  the  next  or  lowest  Miocene  period: 

*For  a  full  technical  description  of  the  extinct  mammalian  species  of  the  Eocene  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  reports  of  Leidy,  Marsh  and  Cope. 


THE   TERTIARY    PERIOD.  221 

Agriochcerus  was  a  genus  of  hog-like  ruminants,  that  flourished 
during  these  times.  It  was  related  to  the  Oreodon  of  the  Miocene. 
It  differed  from  the  latter  and  from  all  known  ruminants  in  having 
the  orbits  open  behind. — Leidy. 

This  group  closed  the  deposits  of  the  Eocene  period.  This  re- 
gion of  lakes  had  been  rising  during  the  latter  portion  of  Eocene 
times,  and  their  final  extinction  closed  this  period. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    TERTIARY    PERIOD,    CONTINUED.— MIOCENE 

EPOCH. 

Inauguration  of  the  Miocene  Epoch. — Formation  of  a  Lake  on  the  Plains. 
— Boundaries. — Where  the  Miocene  is  Exposed  in  Nebraska. — Extent. — 
Miocene  Lakes  farther  West. — Basin  Region. — Oregon  Region. — An  Age  of 
Lakes. — Name  of  the  Eastern  Lake. — Kinds  of  Rock. — Whence  the  Materials 
were  obtained. — Why  tjhe  Miocene  Beds  are  Thin  on  the  Plains.— -Length  of 
the  Miocene  Epoch. — Bad  Lands. — Flora  of  the  Miocene. — Animal  Life. — 
Insectivora.— Rodentia.— Horse  Family.— Titanotheriums— Symborodons.— 
Mastodons  and  Elephants.— Rhinoceros'.— River  Horse.— Hog  Family.— 
Camel  Family. — Musk  Deer. — Oreontidae. — Carnivora. — Hyaenodons. — Dre- 
panodons. — Quadrumanna  in  the  Miocene. — Mammals  in  the  Miocene,  not 
Described  nor  Found. — Closing  of  the  Miocene  Epoch  — Its  Gradual  Char- 
acters.— Lava  Floods  at  the  Close.— Formation  of  the  Coast  Range. — Farther 

Depression  of  the  Plains. — Effect  on  life  of  these  Changes. 

\ 

THE  Miocene  Epoch  was  gradually  inaugurated.  During  the 
Eocene  Epoch  the  plains  were  an  extended  land  surface, 
made  up  of  the  eroded  materials  of  the  Cretaceous  and  the  Per- 
mian and  Carboniferous  rocks.  There  was  free  drainage  to  the 
sea,  but  of  the  rivers  and  their  tributaries  of  that  time,  we  know 
nothing.  The  upward  movement  of  the  plateau  regions  that  event- 
ually drained  the  old  Eocene  lakes  was  accompanied  by  a  subsi- 
dence of  portions  of  the  adjoining  plains.  The  old  mountain  lakes 
were  shifted  eastward,  the  depressions  in  the  plains  making  room 
for  them.  While  the-  mountains  went  upward,  the  plains 
went  downward,  like  the  changing  waves  of  the  sea.  As  this 
movement  was  slowly  in  progress  for  ages  before  it  was  consum- 


222  GEOLOGY. 

mated,  the  probabilities  are  that  the  great  Miocene  lake  of  the  plains- 
commenjed  to  form  before  Uinta  lake  had  terminated  its  history. 
There  probably  were  no  great  convulsive  throbs  of  the  earth's 
crust,  separating  sharply  the  two  epochs.  The  Eocene  shaded  into 
the  Miocene  epoch.  This  lake  of  the  plains  extended  from  near 
the  north  line  of  Kansas  across  Nebraska,  a  large  part  of  Dakota 
Territory,  west  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  northward  to  Manitoba. 
Its  exact  geographical  extent  has  not  been  ascertained  in  Nebraska, 
owing  to  the  superincumbent  Pliocene,  which  overlaps  it,  and 
through  which  it  only  projects  at  intervals.  The  best  exposures  in 
Nebraska  commence  on  the  Niobrara  River,  about  300  miles  west 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Keya  Paha  or  Turtle  Hill  River,  and  extend' 
to  the  west  line  of  the  State,  taking  in  the  White  Earth  River  re- 
gion and  the  space  between  the  latter  and  the  north  line  of  the 
State.  It  is  finely  represented  on  and  north  of  the  latter  river  in 
Dakota  Territory,  constituting  there  a  portion  of  the  famous  Ma- 
koo-si-tcha  or  Mauvais  Terre  of  the  French,  which  has  been  ren- 
dered into  English  by  the  term  Bad  Lands,  although  in  the  Dakota 
tongue  it  means  simply  a  country  hard  to  travel  over.  On  the 
west  the  Miocene  abuts  against  the  undulating  surface  of  the  Lar- 
amie  Group,  and  therefore  did  not  extend  quite  to  the  foot-hills  of 
the  Colorado  Range.  The  extent  of  this  great  fresh  water  lake 
has  been  variously  estimated  at  from  100,000  to  130,000  and  up- 
wards of  square  miles. 

The  local  subsidence  of  the  plains  on  the  east,  next  to  the  moun- 
tains, was  accompanied  by  a  somewhat  similar  depression  between 
the  Wasatch  and  the  Sierras,  forming  also  a  large  Miocene  lake  in 
that  region.  Another  great  Miocene  lake  extended  from  Wash- 
ington Territory  through  Oregon  to  Nevada  and  Colorado.  In 
eastern  Oregon,  the  deposits  of  this  epoch  are  enormously  thick, 
the  depth  reaching  5,000  feet,  overlaid,  however,  by  the  lava  beds, 
which  were  poured  from  fissures  at  the  close  of  the  Miocene.  It 
does  not  fall  within  the  plan  of  this  work  to  discuss  any  of  these 
old  Miocene  lake  beds  except  the  one  covering  a  portion  of  Ne- 
braska. 

From  the  above  it  is  seen  that  the  Miocene  was  pre-eminently  an 
age  of  great  fresh  water  lakes.  It  is  questionable  whether  on  this 
continent  any  other  geological  epoch  was  represented  by  such  a 
number  and  such  large  basins  of  fresh  water. 


THE  TERTIARY  PERIOD.  223 

Clarence  King  has  suggested  for  the  Miocene  lake  that  extended 
.through  Nebraska  the  name  of  Sioux  Lake.  Hayden,  who  first 
studied  these  beds  in  this  region,  called  them  the  White  Earth  River 
Group. 

Kinds  of  Rock. — The  materials  of  these  Miocene  beds  vary  a 
great  deal  in  character.  This  would  naturally  be  expected  in  a  lake 
bed  which  received  the  drainage,  through  countless  ages,  of  the 
rivers  that  now  have  their  outlet  through  the  Missouri.  Varying 
currents  and  other  conditions  would  naturally  frequently  change 
the  character  of  the  sediments  deposited  on  the  bottom.  The  rocks- 
that  supplied  the  materials  that  were  carried  into  this  Miocene  lake 
evidently  came  from  the  Archaean  nucleus  of  the  Rocky  Mountains- 
and  the  Black  Hills,  the  Palaeozoic,  the  Juro-Trias  and  the  different 
groups  of  the  Cretaceous.  The  eroded  materials  going  seaward 
were  stopped  in  these  old  lake  beds.  Erosion,  however,  through 
the  Miocene,  was  by  no  means  as  rapid  as  at  present.  The  height 
of  the  plateau .  region  was  much  less  than  at  present;  the  atmos- 
phere was  moister,  the  rainfall  much  gentler  and  more  constant, 
and  a  warm,  temperate  climate  obtained.  The  extreme  cold  of 
winter,  which  is  such  a  mighty  agent  in  the  disintegration  of  rock, 
and  which  now  characterizes  these  regions,  did  not  then  exist.  Hill, 
valley,  plain,  mountain  and  plateau,  were  also  covered  by  dense 
growths,  in  places,  of  grasses,  and  in  places  of  mighty  forests, 
which  protected  the  land  from  the  denuding  agencies  which  are 
now  constantly  at  work.  As  already  stated,  the  extreme  thickness 
of  the  Miocene  in  the  West  reaches  its  maximum  in  Oregon,  where 
beds  5,000  feet  in  vertical  thickness  are  found.  Owing  to  the  causes 
alluded  to  above,  on  the  plains  the  Miocene  beds  are  comparatively 
thin.  Meek  estimates  their  thickness  at  from  530  to  600  feet. 
Where  I  measured  them,  on  the  Upper  Niobrara,  they  rarely  ex- 
ceeded 400  feet. 

If  we  calculate  the  length  of  Miocene  times  on  the  same  principle 
as  Eocene,  this  epoch  was  probably  a  quarter  of  a  million  years 
long.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  there  is  no  certainty 
about  the  length  of  geological  periods.  k 

In  Nebraska,  on  and  north  of  the  White  Earth,  and  on  the  Upper 
Niobrara,  the  rocks  of  the  Miocene  have  the  following  character: 
Indurated  grit,  of  a  reddish  brown  color,  with  occasional  layers  of 
concretions  of  silicate  of  lime,  often  shading  into,  first,  a  coarse  and 
then  a  fine  green  sandstone.  Above  this  occur,  sometimes,  an- 


224  GEOLOGY. 

mense  masses  of  conglomerate,  with  occasional  layers  of  tabular 
limestone.  Then  come  coarse-grained  sandstone,  often  loose  and 
friable,  and  sometimes  compact  and  heavy  bedded.  A  limestone 
layer,  followed  several  miles,  often  changes  into  a  silicate  of  lime, 
then  sandstone,  and  then  conglomerate,  and  the  opposite.  The 
sections  published  by  Meek,  Hayden  and  Leidy  correspond,  in  the 
main,  to  the  above.* 

BAD  LANDS. 

A  portion  of  this  old  Miocene  lake  bed,  on  and  north  of  the 
White  Earth  River,  as  already  stated,  now  constitutes  the  Bad 
Lands.  This  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  regions  on  the  globe. 
Here,  at  present,  there  is  very  little,  and  in  some  places  formerly 
there  was  no  vegetation.  Water  fit  to  drink  is  exceedingly  rare. 
This  region  is  worn  into  labyrinthine  canyons  that  wind  around  in 
in  every  conceivable  direction.  Occasionally  only  isolated,  some- 
times almost  perpendicular,  portions  of  the  original  beds  remain, 
producing  the  appearance  of  abandoned  human  habitations,  or  old. 
desolated,  forsaken  oriental  cities.  Climbing  some  of  the  heights, 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  there  seems  to  be  an  interminable  array  of 
towers,  spires,  cathedrils,  obelisks,  pyramids  and  monuments.  "Not 
urifrequently  the  rising  or  setting  sun  will  light  up  these  grand  old 
ruins  with  a  wild,  strange  beauty,  reminding  one  of  a  city  illum- 
inated in  the  night,  when  seen  from  some  high  point."  The  harder 
layers  project  from  the  sides  of  the  canyons,  or  mimicked  architect- 
ural forms,  with  such  regularity  that  they  appear  like  seats,  one  abve 
the  other,  of  some  vast  weird  amphitheater.  It  is  here  among  these 
strange,  grotesque  ruins,  that  the  remains  of  the  unique  animals, 
described  farther  on,  are  found." — (Hayden).  To  the  geologist,  no 
region  is  so  inspiring,  though  in  summer  time  he  will  often  find 
the  heat  almost  insupportable,  as  the  sun  heats  up  these  bare  walls 
like  an  oven.  I  have  been  among  these  ruins  when  the  thermome- 
ter ranged  from  108°  to  115°.  So  great,  however,  is  the  interest 
that  is  inspired  by  this  page  in  the  earth's  history,  that  the  natur- 
alist gladly  braves  the  hardships  of  travel  among  these  desola- 
tions. 

As  can  be  inferred  from  the  preceding,  during  the  Miocene  epoch 
the  greater  part  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Nebraska  was  a  land  sur- 
face. 


*See  Leidy  'a  Extinct  Fauna  of  Dakota  and  Nebraska,  page  16. 


THE    TERTIARY  PERIOD.  225 

Life  of  the  Miocene. — The  fossil  remains  which  are  found  in  this 
old  Miocene  lake  bed  indicate  the  life  of  those  times.  I  can  only 
point  out  by  a  few  examples  some  of  its  salient  points. 

Not  the  least  remarkable  was  the  flora  of  the  Miocene.  In  my 
excursions  to  northwestern  Nebraska,  I  found  traces  and  impres- 
sions of  many  land  plants,  but  unfortunately  they  were  too  fragile 
to  remove  them  from  the  containing  matrix,  and  all  attempts  to  ac- 
complish it  resulted  in  their  destruction.  Among  those  identified 
were  cotton  woods  (Populus),  willows  (Salix),  magnolias,  oaks  (Quer- 
ais),  sweet  gum  trees  (Liquidamber),  sassafras,  our  southern  cypress 
(Sequoia)^  Glyphtostrobus,  which  is  closely  allied  to  the  preceding, 
palms,  fig  trees  (J?icus),  lindens,  birches,  maples,  pines,  etc.  Other 
observers  in  other  regions  have  observed  many  more  species,  and 
have  especially  noted  the  vast  abundance  of  the  Sequoias  and  their 
congeners  which  abounded  in  Miocene  times,  not  only  in  America, 
but  over  the  whole  of  northern  Europe  and  Asm,  and  even  in 
Greenland,  Iceland  and  Spitzenbergen.*  The  forms,  however, 
that  Heer  describes  from  Greenland,  Dawson  supposes  to  be  of  the 
Eocene  Age.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  in  Nebraska 
there  flourished  in  Miocene  times  trees  of  the  same  gigantic  charac- 
ter and  even  of  the  same  genus,  and  probably  of  the  same  species, 
as  now  grow  in  the  sequestered  vales  of  California.  Some  of  the 
United  States  geologists  have,  indeed,  expressed  the  conviction 
that  in  that  age  Nebraska  was  covered  by  a  vast  savanna.  I  take 
the  opposite  ground,  because  of  the  occurrence  in  the  Nebraska 
Miocene  beds  of  many  species  of  trees.  Besides  these  giant  cedars 
that  here  loomed  heavenward,  there  were  species  of  palms  and  fig 
trees,  as  stated  above,  and  these  helped  to  give  the  vegetation  that 
warm,  temperate,  or  semi-tropical  aspect  which  marked  its  fades 
as  a  whole. 

Animal  Life. — Along  with  this  warm,  temperate  flora,  there  ex- 
isted in  Miocene  times  a  still  more  wonderful  animal  life.  Perhaps 
never  have  the  conditions  for  mammalian  life  been  so  favorable  as 
during  this  epoch.  The  few  that  can  be  noticed  in  this  chapter 
can  simply  illustrate  its  general  character  and  richness.  The  in- 
sectivora,  which  were  represented  by  several  genera  and  species, 
must  be  passed  over.  Among  the  rodents  the  rat  family  was  al- 
ready represented  by  a  species  called  by  Leidy,  Eumys  elegans.  A 


*See  on  this  subject  Gray's  Address  to  the  American  Association,   Gray's  Forest  Geogra- 
phy, Saparta's  Anaenne  Vegetation  Polaire,  Beer's  Flora  Arctica. 

?5 


226  GEOLOGY. 

beaver  (Pal&caster  Nebrascensis) ,  was  also  abundant  at  this  time. 
The  squirrels  of  that  time  were  large,  as  is  indicated  by  the  remains 
of  Ischyromys  typus,  whose'  head  was  larger  than  that  of  a  musk- 
rat.  The  rabbit  of  the  Nebraska  Miocene  was  smaller  than  the 
common  species  of  the  State  at  the  present  time 

The  horse  family  (Solidunguld),  which  is  now  represented  by  one 
genus  (Equus),  whose  characteristic  species  are  the  horse  and  the 
ass,  was  rich  in  genera  and  species  during  the  Miocene.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  family  came  into  being  in  the  early  Eocene, 
the  first  known  characteristic  form  being  the  Eohippus.  In  the 
early  Miocene  we  already  have  the  Mesohippus,  represented  by 
several  species  whose  distinctive  peculiarity  was  that  the  fourth  toe 
had  become  a  rudimentary  useless  splint.  Next  in  the  Miocene 
came  the  Anchitheriums,  which  were  represented  in  Nebraska  by 
one  species,  with  three  additional  forms  in  Colorado.  The  peculiar 
feature  of  these  horses  was  that  they  had  three  toes,  all  of  which 
touched  the  ground,  the  two  lateral,  Jiowever,  being  comparative- 
ly small  and  weak.  Closely  allied  to  these  were  the  Hyperions, 
several  species  of  which  lived  during  Nebraska  Miocene  times. 
They  also  had  three  toes,  but  only  the  middle  one  touched  the 
ground,  the  two  lateral  swinging  not  much  unlike  the  two  side 
toes  of  the  hog,  being,  however,  comparatively  much  smaller. 
Another  genus,  Merychippus,  was  closely  related  to  the  preceding. 
These  Miocene  horses  ranged  in  size  from  an  animal  much  smaller 
than  the  ass  to  animals  about  the  size  of  a  small  modern  horse.  It 
is  seen,  therefore,  that  at  least  four  genera  of  horses  existed  in  Mio- 
cene times,  each  genus,  however,  being  represented  by  from  one 
to  several  species.  They  must  have  been  exceedingly  numerous, 
and  doubtless  roamed  over  our  plains  in  countless  numbers. 

Another  peculiar  family  of  odd-toed  animals  that  existed  in  Mio- 
cene times  were  the  Titanotheriums.  Leidy  first  described  and 
named  them.  So  abundant  are  their  remains  at  one  horizon  in  the 
lower  Miocene  that  it  has  given  it  the  name  of  Titanotherium  bed. 
Marsh  afterwards  described  a  closely  related  animal  by  the  name  of 
Brontotherium.  Subsequently  Cope  described  another  of  the  same 
family  by  the  name  ofSymborodon.  Megaceratops  Coloradoensis, 
of  Leidy,  belongs  to  the  same  group.  These  animals  had  the  same 
bulk  of  body  of  the  elephants,  and  united  the  characters  of  the  rhi- 
noceros and  elephants  with  more  distant  affinities  to  the  Dinocer- 
ata  of  the  Eocene.  The  head  was  extremely  elongated,  and  be 


THE   TERTIARY   PERIOD. 


227 


cause  of  its  depression  in  the  middle,  bore  some  resemblance  to  a 
pack-saddle.  They  probably  had  a  small  trunk  about  as  long  as 
that  of  the  tapirs.  They  had  two  pairs  of  horns,  one  pair  being 
above  the  nasals  and  another  pair  above  the  eyes,  the  hind  pair  be- 
ing powerful  weapons  of  defense.  They  probably  were  the  succes- 
sors of  the  Dinocerata  of  the  Eocene.  Of  the  Symborodons  Cope 
has  described  five  species.  As  two  species  of  Brontotherium  were 
also  described  by  Marsh,  it  is  clear  that  the  number  of  species  was 
great,  and  judging  from  the  remains,  there  must  have  been  a  very* 
great  number  of  individuals. 

Along  with  the  Symborodons  the  elephants  and  mastodons  were 
already  represented  by  several  species.  The  remains  of  the  one 
that  I  found  on  the  White  Earth,  in  Nebraska,  were  too  much  de- 
cayed to  identify  specifically.  It  bore  the  closest  resemblance  to 
the  Mastodon  mirificus  that  appeared  during  the  next  or  Pliocene 
epoch.  • 

Among  the  most  unexpected  of  all  discoveries  in  the  Nebraska 
Miocene  was  the  remains  of  rhinoceros'.  One,  the  Rhinoceros  oc- 
cidentalis,was  about  three-fourths  the  size  of  the  Indian  rhinoceros. 
R.  Coloradoensis  was  found  in  the  Miocene  of  the  mountains. 

The  curious  European  genus  of  river  horses  {Hyopotamus)  was 
represented  during  those  times  by  at  least  one  species.  It  had  af- 
finities relating  it  to  the  hog  family. 

Genera  closely  related  to  the  hog  family  (Suida)  were  abundant 
during  this  epoch.  One  of  these  genera  (EZoiherium),  which  was 
first  described  from  the  Miocene  of  France,  was  represented  by 
several  species  during  these  times  in  Nebraska  and  Dakota.  Its 
nearest  allies  among  existing  animals  are  first  the  hogs,  and  then 
the  peccary  and  hippopotamus.  One  of  these  (E.  Martont]  was 
about  the  size  of  a  large  hog,  while  another  (E.  ingens]  was  at  least 
one-third  larger.  The  peccaries,  which  are  now  confined  to  South 
America  and  the  southern  United  States  were  represented  in  Ne- 
braska during  the  Miocene  by  several  species.  Five  other  genera 
of  the  Suiclse  occur  in  these  deposits.  During  this  period,  there- 
fore, it  is  evident  that  suilline  animals  existed  in  great  numbers  all 
over  the  land. 

The  most  curious  fact,  perhaps,  connected  with  the  animal  life  of 
this  epoch,  was  the  presence  of  many  species  of  the  camel  family. 
At  present  it  is  confined  to  Asia,  Africa  and  South  America.  In 
the  former  it  is  represented  by  the  camel  proper,  and  in  the  latter 


228  GEOLOGY. 

by  the  Auchenia  or  Llama.  In  Miocene  times,  however,  they 
were  represented  in  Nebraska  by  several  genera  and  many  species* 
One  of  the  first,  described  by  Leidy,  was  called  Paebotherium  Wil- 
soni.  It  was  only  about  as  large  as  the  domestic  sheep.  Protom- 
erys  Evansi  was  closely  related  to  the  preceding,  and  about  the 
same  size.  A  musk  deer  (Septomeryx]  Evansi,  also  occupied  this 
territory  at  this  time.  It  had  many  characters,  especially  in  the 
form  of  its  maxillaries,  relating  it  to  the  deer.  It  was  about  the. 
;size  of  the  musk  ox  of  Thibet. 

No  family  of  animals  was  represented  in  that  epoch  by  more 
genera,  species  and  individuals  than  the  Oreontidae.  Leidy,  who- 
first  described  them,  called  them  ruminating  hogs.  The  skull  ap- 
proached more  nearly  to  that  of  the  peccaries,  though  the  upper 
part  had  some  characters  uniting  them  with  the  camels.  The  mo- 
lars were  like  those  of  ruminants,  and  resembled  most  nearly  those 
of  the  deer,  but  unlike  modern  ruminants,  they  had  incisors  in  both 
jaws.  The  canines  resembled  most  nearly  those  of  the  hog.  The 
teeth,  as  a  whole,  formed  an  almost  unbroken  arch,  a  condition 
found  in  few  animals  besides  the  quadrumanna.  Like  the  hogs,, 
too,  they  had  four  toes  on  each  foot,  two  being  functional,  and  the 
two  on  the  sides  being  too  elevated  to  touch  the  ground.  They 
were,  therefore  emphatically  what  Leidy  called  them,  ruminating 
hogs.  They  were,  judging  from  the  abundance  of  their  remains,, 
more  numerous  than  any  animals  of  those  times.  They  were  gre- 
garious, and  must  have  roamed  over  eastern  Nebraska  in  countless 
millions.  In  size  they  ranged  from  an  animal  not  larger  than  a  rac- 
coon to  one  as  large  as  a  small  elk.  The  most  abundant  was  Oreo- 
don  Culbertsonii.  It  was  slightly  smaller  than  the  domestic  sheep. 
I  have  occasionally  seen  a  stratum  in  the  Bad  Lands  which  in 
places  was  largely  made  up  of  their  remains.  The  largest  species- 
was  probably  O.  superbus,  whose  skull  was  fourteen  inches  long* 
Besides  the  many  species  of  Oreodon  at  least  five  additional  genera 
of  this  family  are  known.  The  number  of  species  clearly  defined 
of  all  the  genera  was  not  less  than  twenty-five.  These  animals 
were,  therefore,  among  the  characteristic  features  of  the  Miocene 
epoch,  and  during  those  times  could  probably  have  been  found  ev- 
erywhere in  America. 

The  herbivora,  however,  did  not  hold  undisputed  possession  of 
the  land.  The  happiness  of  these  countless  herds  was  interrupted 
by  most  sanguinary  enemies.  The  carnivorous  mammalia  were 


THE    TERTIARY   PERIOD.  229 

present  in  numbers  proportionate  'to  the  herbivorous  animals. 
Among  these  the  most  blood-thirsty  were  the  Hycenodkntidce. 
They  were  first  described  from  the  Miocene  of  France  by  Cuvier 
under  another  name.  Subsequently  four  additional  species  were 
found  and  described  by  De  Laizer  and  De  Parieu  under  the  above 
family  name.  The  three  distinct  species  found  in  the  Bad  Lands 
by  Evans,  Shumard,  Meek  and  Hayden  were  described  by  Leidy. 
<c  The  genus  HyaenJdon  combined  the  characters  af  the  wolf,  tiger, 
hyaena,  weasel,  raccoon  and  opossum." — (Leidy).  It  was,  therefore, 
one  of  the  most  comprehensive  types  of  carnivorous  mammalian  ani- 
mals that  ever  existed.  The  largest  of  the  species  was  M.  horridus, 
and  was  about  the  size  of  the  largest  of  the  black  bears.  The  den- 
tition of  this  animal  was  the  most  formidable  conceivable.  "  In 
addition  to  powerful  canine  teeth,  three  of  its  molars  were  structured 
after  the  single  sectorial  tooth  of  other  carnivorous  mammals, 
though  the  last  alone  reached  the  full  development  of  the  corres- 
ponding tooth  of  the  latter.  The  last  of  the  series  of  molars  were 
formed  like  those  of  the  lion  and  tiger.  These  teeth — the  strongest 
and  broadest — combined  the  mechanism  of  the  wedsre  and  scissors, 

o 

and  were  eminently  adapted  for  cutting  tissues  and  bones.  Im- 
mense temporal  fossa3  occupied  the  sides  of  the  skull  for  the  attach- 
ment of  the  powerful  muscles  that  operated  the  levers  that  moved 
the  lower  jaw.  The  skull  was  about  a  foot  in  length.  No  animal 
living  contemporaneously  with  this  formidable  creature  could  have 
resisted  its  power." — (Leidy.)  Next  in  size  was  M.  cruentus,  and 
smallest  was  M.  crucinus. 

Among  the  carnivora  of  the  Nebraska  Miocene  the  cat  family 
(Felidce]  were  well  represented.  Among  the  most  remarkable  of 
the  family  was  a  genus  of  saber-toothed  lions  (Drepanodori).  Its  re- 
mains were  first  found  in  Western  Europe,  afterwards  in  Greece 
and  Asia,  and  finally  in  both  Americas.  The  largest  species  equaled 
the  lion  and  tiger  in  size,  and  judging  from  their  terrible  array  of 
destructive  teeth  were  even  of  greater  ferocity.  In  comparison 
with  the  existing  cat  family  they  were  characterized  by  a  greater 
proportionate  size  and  flattened  form  of  the  upper  canine  teeth, 
which  has  given  these  animals  the  name  which  they  bear.  Dre- 
panidon  occidentalis  was  about  the  size  of  the  existing  panther. 
D.  primaBvus  was  slightly  smaller.  Two  of  the  skulls  found  by 
Hayden  exhibit  marks  of  a  conflict  with  some  other  carnivorous 
animal  and  probably  the  largest  HyaenJdon,  as  the  canines  of  the 


230  GEOLOGY. 

latter  fit  exactly  into  the  depressions  or  holes  found  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  specimen.  No  doubt  these  animals  had  a  fight  in  some 
of  the  beautiful  valleys  that  drained  into  this  Miocene  lake,  and 
then,  after  their  death,  their  bodies  were  carried  into  it  by  some 
flood.  Closely  allied  to  the  last  was  the  saber-toothed  weasel,  so- 
called  because  the  number  and  disposition  of  its  teeth  were  the 
same  as  that  of  the  weasel.  Leidy  called  it  Dinictis.  It  differed 
from  the  Drepanodon  principally  in  the  possession  of  two  additional 
molar  teeth  to  the  lower  jaw.  This  animal  was  slightly  smaller 
than  the  panther,  and  about  as  large  as  the  smaller  contemporaneous 
Drepanodons,  whose  formidable  upper  canines  it  also  possessed.  Its 
remains  were  first  found  by  Hayden  in  the  Bad  Lands  of  Dakota,, 
but  molars  of  the  same  I  subsequently  obtained  from  the  White 
River,  in  Nebraska.  Cope  has  obtained  additional  genera,  allied 
to  the  above,  from  Colorado.  He  has  also  described  from  the  Mio- 
cene of  Colorado  several  species  of  the  dog  family  (Canida),  mostly,, 
however,  of  small  size.  I  have  found  a  few  of  their  teeth  in  the 
Miocene  of  Nebraska,  but  from  the  paucity  of  the  materials,  I  was- 
unable  to  identify  them  specifically. 

If,  as  Cope  supposes,  the  Leptochoerus  of  the  Bad  Lands  was 
most  closely  allied  to  the  quadrumanna,  then  the  monkeys  were 
here  during  the  Miocene  epoch.  He  has  also  described  several 
species  from  the  Colorado  Miocene.  One  of  these  he  has  named 
Menotherium  lemurinum,  because  of  its  close  relationship  to  the 
modern  lemurs.  It  was  about  the  size  of  the  common  cat.  I  infer 
their  presence  in  the  Nebraska  Miocene  from  the  discovery  on  the 
Whits  Earth  of  a  molar  referable  to  this  species.  No  doubt,  there- 
fore, that  during  these  times  the  monkey  family  -was  present  and 
chattered  in  the  woodlands  of  eastern  Nebraska  during  Miocene 
times. 

Many  additional  species  of  mammals  have  been  unearthed  in  the 
Miocene  of  Colorado  which  have  not  yet  been  found  in  the  plains, 
but  which  no  doubt  flourished  here  at  that  time.  The  preceding 
animal  forms,  however,  are  only  a  small  part  of  the  species  that 
have  been  found,  and  all  of  those  found  probably  are  only  a  small 
part  of  those  that  flourished  during  Miocene  times.  During  the 
whole  of  this  epoch,  which,  as  has  already  been  stated,  evidently 
was  of  long  duration,  there  was  a  most  happy  combination  of  phy- 
sical geography  and  climate.  Warm,  temperate  conditions  existed 
almost  to  the  poles.  In  Nebraska  the  magnificent  savannas  and 


THE    TERTIARY    PERIOD.  231 

forests  that  covered  the  land  gave  shelter  and  food  to  countless 
numbers  of  the  mammalia  that  here  enjoyed  a  happy  existence. 
The  conditions  were  most  favorable,  not  only  to  the  perpetuation 
and  development  of  animal  forms,  but  for  the  evolution  of  species 
that  were  only  to  be  developed  completely  during  the  following 
epoch. 

Like  the  preceding  epochs,  the  Miocene  was  destined  to  come  to 
a  close.  The  changing  conditions  evidently  were  not  sudden — they 
were  of  such  a  gradual  character  as  slowly  to  alter  the  environment 
of  the  animal  life  of  the  times.  With  change  of  climate  came 
change  of  flora,  which  in  turn  changed  or  destroyed  the  rich  and 
wonderful  Miocene  forms  of  animal  life.  The  final  catastrophe 
came  at  the  close.  It  was  one  of  the  greatest  revolutions  that  oc- 
curred in  the  history  of  the  globe.  At  the  end  of  the  Jurassic,  "  the 
Sierras,  which  had  been  a  marginal  sea  bottom,  were  crushed  to- 
gether and  folded  into  a  mountain  range.  This  transferred  the  coast 
farther  westward,  and  the  present  coast  range  became  the  marginal 
sea  bottom,  and  received  an  abundance  of  sediment,  until,  in  turn, 
at  the  end  of  the  Miocene,  it  also  yielded  to  the  lateral  pressure 
from  the  Pacific,  and  was  raised  up  into  the  coast  range." — (Le 
Conte).  Coincident  with  this  movement,  great  fissures  were 
formed  in  the  Cascade,  and  great  floods  of  lava  poured  out,  which 
in  north  California  covered  in  wide  sheets  a  great  extent  of  coun- 
try, several  hundred  feet  thick.  The  lava  flood  in  Oregon,  in 
places,  was  3,000  feet  thick.  It  extended  from  Washington  Terri- 
tory to  British  Columbia.  The  area  of  this  great  flood  of  lava  cov- 
ered at  least  80,000  square  miles,  a  space  much  larger  than  the 
whole  of  Nebraska.  Richthofen  has  shown  (Natural  History  of 
Volcanic  Rocks),  that  this  great  lava  flood  could  not  have  proceeded 
from  the  dozen  extinct  craters  that  cover  this  region,  and  that 
therefore,  as  stated  above,  it  must  have  proceeded  from  earth  frac- 
tures or  fissures.  At  the  same  time  the  Plateau  region  was  farther 
elevated,  the  Miocene  lakes  were  drained  or  shifted  eastward,  and 
the  region  of  the  plains  was  still  more  depressed.  This  sinking  of 
the  plains  extended  far  to  the  south,  almost  to  the  gulf,  and  to  the 
east  in  its  central  portion  about  to  where  Columbus  is  located,  on 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  for  an  unknown  distance  to  the 
north.  On  the  Niobrara  its  eastern  line  was  near  the  mouth  of 
Keya  Paha  or  Turtle  Hill  River.  On  the  Republican,  it  was  near 
the  center  of  Harlan  County.  It  thus  changed  the  whole  aspect 


232  GEOLOGY. 

of  the  western  half  of  the  continent.  To  the  life  then  on  the  globe 
it  must  have  been  an  event  so  appalling  that  the  overthrow  of 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  and  the  great  Lisbon  earthquake,  in 
comparison  with  it,  w'ould  have  been  an  insignificant  event.  The 
throes  of  this  event  must  have  shaken  the  globe  and  affected  all 
life,  vegetable  and  animal.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  entire 
facies  of  the  animal  life  of  the  globe  was  changed  from  this  time 
forward,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  Thus  was  closed  the  Miocene 
epoch. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TERTIARY     PERIOD,     CONTINUED.— PLIOCENE 

EPOCH. 

Inauguration  of  the  Pliocene. — Extent  of  the  Pliocene  Lake  of  the  Plains. — 
Other  Pliocene  Lakes. — Eruptions  at  the  beginning  and  during  the  Pliocene. 
— Thickness  of  the  Pliocene  Beds. — Erosion  of  the  Pliocene  Beds. — Eleva- 
tion of  the  Pliocene  Deposits. — Eastward  Barrier  of  the  Pliocene  Lake  of 
the  Plains.— General  Warren's  Explanation.— Materials  of  the  Pliocene 
Beds. — Sections  from  the  Niobrara,  Loup  and  Driftwood. — General  Character 
in  the  Republican  Valley. — So-called  Tripoli  Beds,  and  their  Geyser  Origin. 
—Their  Chemical  Composition.— Nebraska  Once  a  Geyser  Region.— Length 
of  the  Pliocene  Epoch. — Vegetable  Life. — Animal  Life. — Rodents. — Horse 
Family.— Camel  Family.— Bisons.— Bear  Family.— Cat  Family.— Dog  Family. 
— Favorable  Conditions  during  the  Pliocene. — Picture  of  the  Pliocene  Epoch. 
— Close  of  the  Pliocene. — Convulsive  Movements  further  West.— Gradual 
Character  of  its  Close.— General  Remarks  on  the  Tertiary  Epochs. 

AT  THE  close  of  the  last  chapter  it  was  stated  how  the  Mio- 
cene epoch  came  to  a  close.  At  the  opening  of  the  Pliocene 
epoch,  the  great  Miocene  lake  of  the  plains  underwent  further  sub- 
sidence, but  gently  and  gradually.  There  is  no  trace  on  the  plains 
of  the  intervention  of  a  period  of  dry  land,  as  some  have  supposed. 
The  Miocene  lake  here  became  the  Pliocene  by  subsidence  and 
extension  in  every  direction.  It  became  much  deeper  than  it  had 
been.  "  On  the  wrest  it  now  reached  the  foot-hills  of  the  Colorado 
Range;  on  the  south  it  enlarged  the  borders  of  the  Miocene  lake 
from  southern  Nebraska,  through  Kansas,  the  Indian  Territory, 
far  into  Texas;  on  the  north  it  stretched  over  the  whole  of  the 


THE    TERTIARY   PERIOD.  233 

plains  into  British  America."— (King).  The  Pliocene,  therefore, 
in  eastern  Nebraska,  overlies  the  Cretaceous  In  south-west  Ne- 
braska it  lies  on  the  Fort  Pierre  Cretaceous.  Further  west,  the 
disturbance,  as  already  stated,  were  much  greater  at  the  close  of 
the  Miocene.  There  severe  crumpling  and  fissuring  of  the  earth's 
crust  had  taken  place.  The  basin  region  subsided  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  Pliocene  lake  that  was  formed  extended  from  the  Wasatch 
to  the  Sierras,  and  northward  to  the  Columbia,  while  its  southward 
extension  has  not  been  ascertained.  King  believes  that  the  ejection  * 
of  trachytes  occurred  at  the  close  of  the  Miocene,  and  that  the ' 
•ejection  of  rhy  elites  marks  the  beginning,  in  this  region,  of  the 
Pliocene  epoch.  According  to  him,  the  basaltic  eruptions  occurred 
wholly,  within  the  Pliocene.*  Still  another  Pliocene  lake  existed 
in  North  Park,  (North  Park  Group  of  Hayden.)  It  only  comes 
within  the  plan  of  this  work  to  discuss  the  Pliocene  lake  deposits 
of  the  plains,  which  cover  so  large  a  portion  of  Nebraska.  These 
deposits  constitute  the  Loup  Fork  Group  of  Hayden,  and  the  Nio- 
brara  of  Marsh. 

On  the  plains  the  Pliocene  beds,  wherever  their  point  of  junction 
could  be  observed,  are  conformable  to  the  underlying  Miocene. 
King,  however,  remarks  that  they  are  in  places  unconformable, 
which  I  have  not  observed.  Often  they  shade  so  insensibly  into 
each  other  that  the  line  of  junction  could  only  be  ascertained  by 
the  fossils  which  they  entombed. 

Thickness  of  the  Pliocene  Beds. — Along  the  foot-hills  of  the  Col- 
orado Range,  the  Pliocene  beds  average  nearly  2,000  feet  in  thick- 
ness. They  thin  out  eastward,  probably  because  the  mass  of  ma- 
terials was  obtained  from  the  mountains,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was  precipitated  along,  or  near  its  western  shores.  In  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  and  Dakota  towards  the  east,  the  Pliocene  beds  become 
thinner;  until  they  run  out  entirely.  It  is  certain,  however,  that 
originally  they  were  much  thicker  than  at  present.  Owing  to  them 
oeing  the  upper  rocks  at  the  time,  they  must  have  been  subjected 
to  an  enormous  amount  of  erosion  during  the  subsequent  Quater- 
nary age.  The  monuments  of  this  erosion  are  still  visible  in 
many  places.  In  township  10  North  and  26  West  of  6th  Meridian 
there  is  a  Pliocene  peak,  nearly  300  feet  high,  that  represents  the 
original  level  of  these  deposits.  In  13  North,  51  West,  there  are 
limestone  cliffs  75  feet  high,  and  similar  ones  all  over  this  region  in 

*See  King's  Systematic  Geology  of  the  40th  Parallel. 


234  GEOLOGY. 

far  separated,  isolated  spots.  The  top  of  all  these  rocky  cliffs, 
whose  strata  are  horizontal,  represent  where  the  general  level  of 
the  Pliocene  once  was.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  monument 
of  the  original  level  of  the  Pliocene  in  Nebraska,  is  at  Scott's 
Bluffs,  and  at  Chimney  Rock,  on  the  North  Platte.  These  have 
long  been  noted  landmarks.  The  country  is  here  eroded  into  many 
forms,  exhibiting  some  of  the  peculiar  natural  architecture  of  the 
Bad  Lands.  Chimney  Rock  is  about  150  feet  high.  The  strata 
here  and  at  Scott's  Bluffs  are  horizontal,  and  therefore  the  general 
level  of  the  country  must  have  been  as  elevated,  at  least,  as  the  top 
of  these  crags.  No  doubt  much  material  has  also  been  removed 
from  the  top  of  the  highest  of  these  old  monuments,  as  they  have 
been  subjected  to  erosive  agencies  ever  since  the  commencement  of 
the  Glacial  Age.  From  two  to  four  hundred  feet,  therefore,  must 
have  been  removed  from  the  general  surface  of  the  Pliocene  de- 
posits of  the  plains.  Notwithstanding  the  immensity  of  this  erosion, 
a  considerable  thickness  of  these  deposits  still  remain.  In  Ne- 
braska they  range  from  10  to  700  feet.  King  has  remarked  that 
at  the  mountains,  where  they  are  lofty  and  form  powerful  con- 
densers of  moisture,  the  resultant  streams  have  carried  away  in 
front  of  them  all  the  Tertiary  and  exposed  the  Cretaceous. 

Elevation  of  the  Pliocene. — At  Chalk  Bluffs,  the  line  of  separation 
between  the  Miocene  and  Pliocene  is  6,000  feet  above  the  sea  leveL 
Near  41°  30'  the  Pliocene  reaches  an  altitude  of  over  7,000  feet. 
In  the  valley  of  the  Loup  Fork  the  contact  plane  between  the  Mi- 
ocene and  Pliocene  approximates  to  3,000  feet.  There  is,  there- 
fore, a  gradual  sinking  eastward  of  the  contact  plane  between  the 
Miocene  and  Pliocene. 

Eastward  Barrier  of  thr  Pliocene  Lake  — It  has  been  a  question 
what  barriers  on  the  east  held  in  the  waters  of  the  Pliocene  lake 
of  the  plains.  Two  theories  have  been  suggested.  One  is  that  the 
whole  western  shore  line,  with  the  mountain  chain  against  which 
it  abuts,  and  the  present  incline  towards  the  east,  was  low  enough, 
during  Pliocene  times,  to  hold  the  waters  of  the  lake.  This  theory, 
however,  is  irreconcilable  with  the  known  facts  concerning  the  ele- 
vation of  the  Rocky  Mountain  system  during  the  Tertiary  epochs*. 
Evidently  this  region  near  the  eastern  shores  of  the  lake,  and  on 
the  south,  was  once  elevated  into  a  rim,  and  it  was  the  sinking  of 
this  border,  towards  the  close  of  the  Pliocene,  and  the  transference 


*See  Clarence  King's  Systematic  Geology  of  the  40th., Parallel,  Chapter  VI.  on  Stratigraphi- 
cal  Geology. 


THE  TERTIARY  PERIOD.  235 

of  the  geosynclinal  of  the  continent  to  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi 
valleys,  that  helped  to  bring  the  Pliocene  to  a  close.  It  is  not  at  all 
impossible  that  future  investigation  will  show  that  the  present  divide 
between  the  Missouri  and  the  Mississippi  was  a  portion  of  this  rim, 
and  that  the  Pliocene  deposits  that  once  covered  eastern  Nebraska 
were  removed  by  erosion  during  subsequent  glacial  time«.  The 
Pliocene  at  least  was  deposited  in  a  broad  level  lake  between  the 
Meridian  of  98°  and  105°,  and  subsequently  this  whole  area  of  sub- 
sidence towards  the  east,  accompanied  by  slight  continued  elevation 
towards  the  west,  was  transformed  into  an  incline  from  the  base  of 
the  foot-hills  eastward.  u  From  the  4<Dth  parallel  region  this  dip  of 
the  Pliocene  at  present  towards  the  east  is  equal  to  4,000,  and  to- 
wards the  south  of  7,000  feet." — (King).  The  original  discovery  of 
the  eastern  conditions  of  the  shore  line  of  this  old  Pliocene  lake  of 
the  plains  was  made  by  Lieutenant  (now  General)  Warren,  in  the 
annual  report  of  Captain  (now  General)  Humphreys,  for  tlie  year 
1858.  No  clearer  statements  of  this  theory,  and  the  reasons  for  it, 
have  since  been  made.  I  announced  the  same  theory  in  public  lec- 
tures as  early  as  1872,  and  had  adopted  it  without  being  aware  that 
Warren  had  long  anticipated  me.  Clarence  King,  also,  by  inde- 
pendent study,  without  knowing  of  Warren's  discovery,  had  come 
to  the  same  conclusion.  I  mention  these  facts  to  show  that  students 
of  geology,  in  studying  the  phenomena  of  this  region,  will  be 
forced  lo  make  this  explanation.  One  curious  feature  of  this  sub- 
sidence of  4,000  feet  eastward  over  the  Pliocene  region,  is  that  no 
faults,  breaks  or  crumplings  have  yet  been  detected.  As  the  sedi* 
ments  of  this  old  Pliocene  lake  are  thickest  next  to  the  mountains,, 
and  thin  out  eastward,  it  is  clear  that  the  eastern  rim  was  a  low- 
land, without  lofty  ridges  or  mountains.  The  streams  that  drained 
into  it  from  that  quarter  were  of  insignificant  size. 

Materials  of  the  Pliocene  Beds  of  the  Plains. — Near  the  mountains 
the  materials  of  the  Pliocene  beds  are  exceedingly  coarse,  and 
where  they  are  in  contact  with  the  foot-hills  they  are  composed  of 
conglomerates  made  up  of  water- worn  pebbles,  feldspar  and  quartz 
in  masses,  and  some  small  pieces  or  chips  of  all  the  Archaean  rocks 
which  are  represented  towards  the  west.  The  fragments  are  of  all 
sizes,  from  a  shot  to  a  man's  head,  and  even  larger.  The  coarser 
conglomerates  form  the  upper  beds,  beneath  which  there  are  often 
much  finer  materials.  The  erosion  of  the  upper  strata  has  in  many 
places  cut  through  the  coarse  conglomerates  and  widened  the  bed 
below  in  the  finer  sediments,  producing  over-hanging  rocks. 


236  GEOLOGY. 

Beautiful  illustrations  of  this  kind  of  erosion  can  be  seen  along  the 
streams  flowing  eastward  from  the  Laramie  Hills.  South  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad.,  west  of  Cheyenne,  the  Pliocene  beds  form 
irregular  terraces,  which  often  change  or  are  prolonged  into  curious 
sharp  escarpments.  South  of  Cheyenne,  and  eastward,  the  upper 
beds  are  often  made  up  of  light,  creamy  limestone,  sometimes  ex- 
ceedingly brittle,  intercalated  with  small  veins  of  chalcedony.  Still 
further  eastward,  north  and  south  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
the  Pliocene  beds  become  arenaceous,  but  fine-grained,  beds  of  clay 
and  marl  being  interlaminated.  The  Chugwater  is  bordered  for  a 
long  distance  with  abrupt  cliffs  of  Pliocene  rocks,  often  forming 
escarpments  which  have  been  cut  out  by  lateral  ravines  and  small 
canyons.  At  Scott's  Bluffs,  near  the  western  line  of  Nebraska, 
there  is  a  fine  exposure  of  the  Pliocene  rocks,  which  are  here  made 
up  of  sandstones,  marls  and  whitish  and  yellowish  white  clays. 
Along  Lodge  Pole  Creek,  the  Pliocene  rocks  have  assumed  more 
the  forms  of  bluffs.  Here,  and  occasionally  on  the  upper  Republi- 
can, the  thin,  marly  members  sometimes  contain  thin  masses  of 
jasper-like  rocks,  which  occasionally  contain  dendritic  markings, 
produced  by  oxides  of  the  metals.  Among  these,  moss  agates  are 
occasionally  found.  On  the  Niobrara  and  Loup  rivers  there  is,  in 
many  places,  at  the  top,  an  immense  amount  of  loose  or  at  least  in- 
coherent sand,  or  loosely  compacted  sand.  The  decomposition  of 
these  Pliocene  beds  in  these  regions  has  produced  the  famous  sand 
hills.  Next  below,  are  beds  of  compacted  gravel  and  sand.  Then 
come  calcareous  and  arenaceous  concretions,  combined  with  or  en- 
closed in  whitish  and  yellowish  grits.  Greenish  and  greenish  gray 
sand  comes  next.  Arenaceous  marl,  shading  from  deep  yellow  to 
dull  red,  lies  below  the  last.  At  the  bottom  is  observed  a  grit  of 
yellowish  hue,  often  highly  calcareous,  and  someti'mes  containing 
limestone  more  or  less  concretionary,  from  one  to  seven  inches  thick. 
The  following  section,  beginning  at  the  top,  I  have  taken  about 
75  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Key  a  Paha: 

1.  Light  brownish  sand  of  undetermined  thickness. 

2.  Incoherent  gravel  and  sand. . . . . 25  feet. 

3.  Yellowish  white  grit,  with  calcareous  concretions 19     " 

4.  Greenish  and  grayish  sand 27     " 

5.  Reddish  and  yellowish  sandy  marl 35    ** 

6.  Yellowish  gray  calcareous  grit,  containing  layers  of  concre- 

tionary limestone 42     " 

Tdtal. .  .  148     " 


THE   TERTIARY   PERIOD.  23 T 

The  following  is  a  section  from  the  Loup,  beginning  at  the  top  r 

1.  Light  brownish  sand,  of  undetermined  thickness. 

1.  Loosely  compacted  sand  and  pebbles 21  feet. 

3.  Greenish  and  gray  marls 13  " 

4.  Concretionary  limestone 17  " 

5.  Sand  and  sandy  marls  . . . . , ....... 16  " 

6.  Concretionary  limestone 11  " 

7.  Soft  lime  and  marl 7  **•  • 

8.  Silicious  limestone,  with  concretions  of  limestone  containing 

iron  and  alumina 16     " 

9.  Fine  loose  sandstone,  only  eight  feet  exposed 8     " 

Total . ... 109     " 

South  of  the  Republican  Valley,  in  Nebraska,  on  the  Driftwood 
there  are  some  fine  exposures  of  the  Pliocene.  The  following  sec- 
tion, which  I  took  in  the  spring  of  1877,  is  from  township  I  North 
and  32  West,  and  on  sections  12  and  14.  It  is  numbered  from  the  top: 

1.    Loosely  compacted  sand  and  pebbles,  with  ebb  and  flow  struc- 
ture   10  feet. 

2.  Alternations  of  greenish  and  gray  marls 14  " 

3.  Soft  concretionary  limestone 8  u 

4.  Sandy  marl 10  " 

5.  Soft  concretionary  limestone 6  " 

6.  Soft  limestone  and  marl 4  " 

7.  Silicious  limestone,  with  pockets  and  concretions  of  pure 

white  lime 14     " 

Total 55     " 

The  strata  in  all  these  sections  vary  very  much,  even  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  and  sometimes  within  a  hundred  yards.  The 
least  variation  is  observed  in  the  green  marl  beds.  The  section  on 
the  Driftwood,  it  will  be  observed,  is  quite  different  from  the  ones 
on  the  Loup  and  the  Niobrara.  On  the  south  side  of  the  Republi- 
can, in  Harlan  County,  the  Pliocene  rests  on  the  Niobrara  Cre- 
taceous, and  so  far  as  I  could  observe,  conformably,  Here  the  ma- 
terials consist  largely  of  lime  mingled  with  silicious  materials; 
Thick  strata  of  marly  silicious  beds,  and  some  beds  of  coarse, .loosely 
compacted  sandstones,  intercalated  with  them  alternate  below.  I 
regret  that  my  section  from  this  important  locality  has  become 
illegible,  and  I  only  describe  it  from  memory.  From  Harlan  County 
to  the  west  line  of  the  State,  along  the  Republican  Valley,  the 
rocky  bluffs  of  the  valley  are  made  up  of  a  silicious  limestone, 
which  often  shades  into  a  fine  and  then  coarse  conglomerate.  The 


238  GEOLOGY. 

Pliocene  thins  out  towards  the  upper  end  of  the  valley,  and  near 
the  State  line,  in  places  where  it  overlies  the  Fort  Pierre  Cretaceous, 
is  only  from  twenty-five  to  sixty  feet  thick.  The  means  at  my  dis- 
posal did  not  enable  me  to  determine  the  probable  cause  of  this 
phenomenon. 

The  most  silicious  strata  of  the  Pliocene  in  Nebraska  contain 
more  or  less  of  calcareous  materials.  The  sandstones  vary  a  great 
deal  in  texture,  the  finest,  as  elsewhere,  being^  generally  beneath, 
increasing  in  coarseness  to  the  top,  where,  as  already  observed,  the 
rocks  often  assume  the  character  of  fine  pudding  stone  conglomer- 
ate. The  pebbles,  water-worn  and  smooth,  are  made  up  of  all  kinds 
of  rock,  metamorphic  materials  being  the  most  abundant.  Among 
these  are  granites,  syenites,  greenstones,  quartz,  sandstone  and  frag- 
ments of  silicified  wood.  This  conglomerate,  when  decomposed 
resembles  the  drift  so  closely  that  at  first  I  mistook  it  for  that  for- 
mation. Above  the  mouth  of  the  Arickeree,  and  at  other  points  in 
southwestern  Nebraska,  the  Pliocene  is  capped  by  an  intensely 
hard  silicious  stratum,  from  two  to  ten  feet  thick.  It  varies  from 
something  akin  to  quartzite,  to  flint,  hornstone  and  chalcedony. 
The  color  of  the  latter  varies  from  a  creamy  white  to  transparent, 
and  occasionally  is  coarsely  opalized.  A  few  moss  agates  are  some- 
times found  in  portions  of  this  stratum.  Prof.  Mudge  reports  a 
similar  stratum  in  the  Pliocene  near  Fort  Wallace,  Kansas.  Ex- 
cepting this  hard  layer,  much  of  even  the  most  compact  strata  is 
apt  to  disintegrate  on  exposure  to  the  elements.  Sometimes  the 
most  compact  portion  is  so  irregular  in  structure  as  to  interfere  with 
the  dressing  of  the  stones  for  architectural  purposes. 

Polishing  Powder. — Infusorial  Earth. —  Geyser  Flocula. — One  of 
the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  deposits  of  this  Pliocene  lake  of  the 
plains,  is  a  peculiar,  flour-like  material  that  appears  in  beds  of 
greater  or  less  thickness  and  extent,  that  occurs  on  the  Republican, 
the  Loup,  Niobrara,  and  other  sections.  When  I  first  examined  it 
under  the  microscope,  eight  years  ago,  a  few  diatoms  were  collected, 
from  which  circumstance  it  was  regarded  as  probably  of  the  char- 
acter of  tripoli.  Since  then,  in  many  specimens  that  have  come  un- 
der my  observation,  a  diatom  has  rarely  been  found.  In  almost 
every  specimen  examined,  however,  great  numbers  of  the  forms  that 
Ehrenberg  called  Phytolitharia  were  detected.  The  most  conspic- 
uous of  these  are  triangular  in  shape,  with  one  edge  convex  and 
the  other  concave,  or  the  opposite.  They  cover,  under  a  micro- 


THE    TERTIARY   PERIOD. 


239 


scope  magnifying  90,000  times,  or  300  diameters,  the  space  of  about 
one-eighth  of  an  inch,  and  of  incalculable  thinness.  These  speci- 
mens, under  such  high  powers,  are  translucent.  Many  other  curi- 
ous microscopic  forms  occur.  The  chemical  analysis  of  this  earth, 
however,  is  very  different  from  tripoli.  It  is  proved  to  be  a  silicate 
of  the  alkaline  earths,  and  most  generally  of  soda,  potash,  magnesia 
or  lime.  Sometimes  only  one,  and  sometimes  several  of  these  alka- 
lies are  present.  It  ranges  in  color  from  light  gray  to  snow  white, 
green  and  yellowish.  All  these  colors  are  sometimes  found  in  the  same 
ted,  and  the  chemical  composition  varies  even  more  than  the  color. 
To  the  touch  it  feels  very  much  like  flour.  The  best  specimens 
have  no  grit,  and  when  used  as  a  polishing  powder  no  scratches  can 
be  detected,  even  with  the  microscope.  It  is  most  abundant  along 
the  Republican,  where  it  is  found  in  almost  every  county.  The 
following  is  a  characteristic  section,  taken  at  a  bed  in  Furnas 
County,  south  of  the  Republican,  and  about  eight  miles  southeast 
of  Arapahoe.  It  is  exposed  on  the  East  half  of  Northeast  of  8, 
and  on  West  half  of  Northwest  of  9,  Township  3  North,  and  21 
West,  of  6th  Principal  Meridian.  One  of  these  exposures  here  is 
near  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long.  The  measurements  are  from  the  top 

down : 

SECTION. 

1 .  Loess,  from  three  to 6 

2.  Drift 3  feet. 

3.  Compact  silicate  of  lime  and  limestone 3     " 

4.  Flour-like  earth 12     " 

This  bed  is  made  up  of  layers  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  thickness, 
of  snowy  whiteness,  and  other  layers,  from  nine  inches  to  a  foot 
thick,  of  a  grayish  white  color.  Nine  feet  from  the  top  there  is  a 
layer  two  inches  thick,  of  a  greenish  color,  which  contains  potash 
and  iron. 

As  already  intimated,  it  polishes  as  successfully  and  as  finely  as 
the  best  tripoli. 

Origin  of  this  Flour-like  Earth. — Near  or  in  many  of  these  beds 
all  over  the  Pliocene  region  of  the  plains  are  found  many  extinct 
geyser  tubes,  and  sometimes  old  geyser  basins.  Of  these  I  ob- 
served at  least  thirty  between  Arapahoe  and  the  west  line  of  the 
State.  I  have  also  found  them  in  the  Loup  region  and  on  the  Nk>- 
brara.  As  some  of  these  geyser  tubes  had  their  exit  in  the  Fort 
Pierre  Group,  on  the  upper  Republican,  it  is  probable  that  they 


240 


GEOL.OGY. 


commenced  their  work  in  the  Cretaceous  period,  and  were  in  opera- 
tion all  through  the  long  centuries  of  the  Eocene,  Miocene  and 
Pliocene  epochs,  and  far  into  the  Quaternary.  A  similar  bed  ex- 
ists on  Oak  Creek,  which  was  deposited  in  interglacial  times.  Ne- 
braska, and  at  least  northern  Kansas,  in  fact,  was  a  great  geyser  re- 
gion all  through  the  Tertiary  period.  It  far  exceeded  in  the  num- 
ber and  magnitude  of  its  geysers  the  upper  Yellowstone  region  and 
Iceland  at  the  present  day.  Few  memorials  of  these  old  extinct 
geysers  are  visible  at  the  present  time,  owing  to  their  being  covered 
up  by  the  superincumbent  Quaternary  deposits,  but  enough  remain 
to  show  that  a  prodigious  number  must  have  existed  in  at  least 
Pliocene  times.  It  is  probable  that  this  flour-like  silico  alkaline 
earth  owes  its  origin  to  these  old  geysers.  It  is  well  known  that 
hot  alkaline  waters  dissolve  silica.  When,  therefore,  the  geyser 
streams  holding  silica  and  alkalies  in  solution  was  poured  into  this 
old  lake,  it  was  precipitated,  on  cooling,  to  the  bottom.  Indeed,, 
many  of  the  flakes  of  this  earth,  under  the  microscope,  clearly  re- 
semble the  dried  flocculent  flakes  of  aluminic  silicate,  which  the 
chemist  obtains  by  pouring  soluble  sodic  silicate  into  a  solution  of 
sodic  aluminate.  Another  fact  which  tends  to  establish  the  proba- 
bility of  this  theory  is  that  this  Pliocene  silico  alkaline  earth,  on 
analyses,  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  geyserite,  which  is  ob- 
tained from  the  deposits  of  existing  geysers.  The  following 
analysis  are  illustrations  of  this  statement.  No.  I  is  an  analysis  of 
this  earth  from  the  deposit  near  Arapahoe;  No.  2,  from  the  Loup; 
No.  3,  from  Iceland,  and  No.  3,  from  the  Yellowstone.  No.  I  and 
2  were  made  by  myself;  No.  3  was  made  by  Forchhammar,  and 
No.  4  by  Dr.  F.  M.  Endlich: 


1 

2 

3 

4 

Loss  on  ignition  

8  00 

Silica  

67  01 

80  17 

84  43 

76  80 

Water 

8  03 

7  43 

7  88 

5  00 

Alumina 

7  11 

4  71 

3  07 

9  46 

Iron  

2  81 

3  01 

1  91 

trace 

Lime  

2  01 

92 

0  70 

1  80 

Soda  and  potassa  
Magnesia 

7  87 
4  05 

2  27 
80 

92 
1  06 

trace 
trace 

98  89 

99  31 

99  98 

101  06 

From  these  analyses  it  is  evident  that  the  principal  difference 
between  this  Pliocene  earth  and  geyserite  is  that  the  former  contains 
a  much  larger  per  cent  of  alkalies;  though  the  specimen  from  the 
Loup  is  strikingly  like  the  geyserite  from  Iceland.  By  reference 


THE    TERTIARY   PERIOD.  241 

to  Dr.  Endlich's  report  on  the  composition  of  the  geyserites  of  the 
Yellowstone,*  it  will  be  seen  that  they  differ  very  much  in  the  per 
cent  of  their  constituent  elements.  In  the  great  number  of  analyses 
reported  by  him  from  as  many  different  geysers,  no  two  are  alike. 
Often  geysers  only  a  few  feet  apart  produce  very  different  qualities 
of  geyserite.  The  same  is  true  of  this  peculiar  earth  under  dis- 
cusion.  It  not  only  differs  a  great  deal  in  different  localities,  but 
even  in  different  layers  of  the  same  stratum.  It  differs  most  in  the 
quantity  of  the  alkalies  which  it  contains.  Some  specimens  contain 
twenty  or  more  per  cent,  while  others  contain  only  a  trace,  the 
latter  approximating  closely  in  chemical,  though  not  in  physical 
constitution,  to  the  true  geyserite.  I  submit  whether  these  facts  do 
not  indicate  a  similar  origin.  It  is  possible  that  the  peculiar  modifi- 
cation of  geyserite  into  a  flour-like  alkaline  silicate  may  have  re- 
sulted from  geysers  that  were  active  in  the  waters  of  this  old  Plio- 
cene lake. 

The  deposits  of  a  similar  character  in  the  Quaternary  contain, 
where  I  have  chemically  examined  them,  a  larger  per  cent  of  iron, 
and  are  coarser  in  texture. 

Length  of  the  Pliocene  Epoch. — The  great  amount  of  erosion  to 
which  the  Pliocene  rocks  have  been  subjected,  and  the  great  thick- 
ness of  the  beds  yet  remaining,  especially  along  the  base  of  the 
mountains  on  the  west,  indicates  that  this  epoch  was  of  long  dura- 
tion. It  probably  endured  through  as  many  centuries  as  the  pre- 
ceding Miocene. 

Life  of  the  Pliocene  Epoch. —  Vegetation. — In  the  lower  beds  of  the 
Nebraska  Pliocene  are  found,  in  many  places,  and  especially  on  the 
Niobrara,  many  remains  of  coniferous  trees.  Among  these  are 
petrified  wood,  cones  and  leaves.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
petrified  wood  may  have  been  derived  from  older  formations.  If 
not,  then  there  flourished  during  these  times  at  least  one  araucarian 
pine.  A  flake  from  an  agatized  specimen  which  I  obtained  from, 
the  Niobrara,  under  the  microscope  gave  distinctly  the  structure  of 
the  araucarians.  There  is  no  such  doubt  about  the  common  pine 
family,  as  both  cones  and  leaves  of  these  are  preserved.  The  giant 
trees  (Sequoias]  must  have  been  abundant,  judging  from  the  number 
of  their  remains.  One  species  of  cedar,  closely  related  to,  if  not 
identical  with  our  common  juniper,  has  also  left  its  remains  in  the 
Pliocene  of  the  Republican  Valley.  Along  with  the  last,  a  cypress 

*Haydeii's  Report  for  1872,  p.  157. 

16 


242  GEOLOGY. 

occurs.  On  the  Niobrara,  in  the  lower  beds  of  the  Pliocene,  occur, 
at  rare  intervals,  palm-like  leaf  lemains,  which  probably  belonged 
to  some  species  of  sabal,  though  the  remains  were  too  indistinct  to 
identify.  At  the  same  horizon  remains  of  fig  leaves  occur.  There 
occur,  also,  occasional  remains  of  the  Sweet  Fern  (Comptoma), 
Sweet  Gum,  Locust  (Robinia),  Honey  Locust  (Glcd,ifechia\  Cassia, 
Sumach  (Rhus),  Walnut  (Juglans),  Tulip  tree  (Liriodendrori),  Staff 
tree  {Gelastrus),  Cottonwoods  (Populus),  and  Oaks.  A  petrified 
oak  log,  from  the  Niobrara  Pliocene,  in  the  cabinet  of  the  State 
University,  is  remarkable  for  its  beauty  and  the  distinctness  with 
which  its  structure  has  been  preserved.  The  cells  and  medullary 
rays  are  as  perfect  as  in  a  live  oak  of  to-day.  In  Harlan  County, 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Republican  River,  occur  masses  of  silicious 
limestone  that  are  filled  with  the  petrified  or  semi-petrified  seeds  of 
probably  some  species  of  Arrow-wood  (Viburnatn),  which  is  a  mem- 
ber of  our  Honeysuckle  family,  which  had  its  greatest  develop- 
ment in  Tertiary  times.  A  flora  similar  to  this  characterized 
Europe  during  this  epoch,  but  it  disappeared  at  the  end  of  the 
Tertiary.  Here,  however,  our  conspicuous  vegetable  forms  are  yet 
Tertiary  in  type,  and  almost  in  species.  If  Heer  is  correct,  many 
of  our  existing  American  species  abounded  already  in  Greenland, 
Iceland  and  Spitzbergen  in  the  middle  Tertiary.  So  far,  therefore, 
as  our  flora  is  concerned,  America,  as  has  long  since  been  remarked, 
is  the  old  world.  • 

Animal  Life. — The  turtle  family  was  probably  represented  by 
fewer  species  during  the  Pliocene  than  in  the  previous  epoch. 
Those  that  I  have  observed  myself  in  the  Niobrara  Pliocene  were 
land  tortoises,  belonging  to  the  genus  Testudo.  Their  remains 
were  mixed  with  those  of  mammals. 

During  this  epoch  the  higher  forms  of  vegetable  life,  and  espe- 
cially the  mammalian  type,  h.ad  a  remarkable  development.  They 
must  have  been  exceedingly  abundant  around  the  shores  of  the 
great  lake  of  the  plains,  as  is  evident  from  the  vast  numbers  of 
their  remains. 

The  birds  were  represented  by  an  eagle  (Aqutla  Dananus),  and  a 
cormorant  (^Grus  Haydent),  both  found  on  the  Loup,  and  described 
by  Marsh.  The  existence  of  the  eagle  implies  the  presence  of 
other  species.  And  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  happy  physi- 
cal conditions  of  those  times  were  favorable  to  a  great  development 


of  bird  life. 


THE    TERTIARY  PERIOD.  243 

The  rodents  were  represented  by  several  species.  Among  these 
was  a  porcupine  (Hystrix  venustus),  and  a  beaver  (Castor  tortus), 
about  half  the  size  of  the  one  now  living. 

The  horse  family  (Efuufafjfc  were  represented  by  at  least  four 
genera  and  fifteen  species.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these 
genera  was  the  Hippari^n,  which  was  already  present  in  the  pre- 
vious Miocene,  and  was  described  under  that  head.  The  species 
were  comparatively  small  in  size.  Hj^^rion  occidentalis,  whose 
remains  occur  at  several  horizons,  and  at  widely  separated  localities, 
was  the  largest  species,  but  was  only  about  the  size  of  the  ass. 
Three  other  species,  found  on  the  Niobrara,  and  described  by  Leidy, 
were  still  smaller.  Merychippus,  another  genus,  which  occurs  on 
the  Niobrara,  was  so  named  because  of  its  large,  broad  grinders. 
The  name  means  ruminating  horse,  but  it  refers  only  to  the  resem- 
blance, as  it  did  not  partake  of  the  character  of  ruminants.  Mery- 
chippus mirabilis,  the  largest  of  the  two  species  described  by  Leidy, 
was  a  little  larger  than  the  ass.  Protohippus,  which  is  also  repre- 
sented in  the  Nebraska  Pliocene  by  at  least  four  species,  had  even 
a  more  complicated  structure  of  the  enamel  of  the  teeth  than  the 
modern  horse.  Protohippus  supremus,  .which  in  size  was  about 
half  way  between  the  ass  and  horse,  was  the  largest  species.  Pro- 
tohippus  parvulus,  which  was  obtained  by  Marsh  at  Antelope  Sta- 
tion,  Nebraska,  was  only  about  two  and  a  half  feet  high  when 
mature.  Closely  related  to  the  preceding  was  Pliohippus,  of  which 
Marsh  described  two  species.  It  had  only  one  hoof  to  each  foot, 
but  large  splint  bones  still  remained.  Its  principal  points  of  differ- 
ence from  the  true  horse  lay  in  the  shape  of  the  skull,  hoof,  and  in 
the  shorter  molars.  Another  genus  of  animals  from  the  Niobrara, 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  horse  family,  but  which  reference  is  un- 
certain, owing  to  the  paucity  of  the  materials  for  determination, 
Leidy  has  called  Hyohirjpus,  and  under  that  name  has  described 
two  species.  The  most  perfect,  at  the  least  the  most  modern  of  the 
Pliocene  horses  of  Nebraska,  was  Equus  excelsus.  Dr.  Hayden 
first  found  its  remains  on  the  Loup,  then  on  the  Niobrara,  and  then 
at  other  points.  It  was  about  the  size  of  a  medium-sized  modern 
horse,  and  differed  only  in  trifling  details  from  the  present  one  I 
have  found  its  remains  in  the  uppermost  Pliocene  beds  in  the  Re- 
publican Valley,  and  in  the  Quaternary.  It  extended  over  from 
the  Pliocene  to  interglacial  times.  This  most  modern  of  the  Plio- 
cene horses,  seems  to  have  been  the  culminating  form  of  the  family 


244  GEOLOGY. 

in  this  epoch.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  family  was  first 
represented  in  the  Eocene  of  the  mountains  by  the  Dawn  Horse, 
or  Eohippus,  with  five  toes  on  the  fore  feet.  The  horses  abounded 
all  through  the  Miocene  and  Pliocene,  when  in  the  higher  forms 
in  this  latter  epoch  the  toes  had  all,  except  the  middle  one,  disap- 
peared, but  leaving  as  a  memorial  of  their  former  presence  the 
splint  bones.  It  is  evident  that  they  must  have  existed  here  in 
Pliocene  times  in  prodigious  numbers.  In  fact,  these  regions, 
above  any  other  in  any  geological  age,  were  dominated  by  horses^ 

One  species  of  Rhinoceros  wTas  a  contemporary  of  the  Pliocene 
horses.  It  was  about  the  size  of  the  Indian  Rhinoceros,  and  its 
teeth  had  the  same  formula.  Leidy  has  named  it  R.  crassus. 

The  elephant  family  (Proboscidians),  which  first  became  sharply 
outlined  in  the  preceding  Miocene  epoch,  was  represented  in  the 
Nebraska  Pliocene  by  at  least  two  genera  and  species.  Mastodon 
mirificus  (wonderful  Mastodon),  was  first  described  by  Leidy  from 
the  Pliocene  beds  on  the  Loup.  Hayden  also  found  its  remains  in 
abundance  on  the  Niobrara.  I  have  also  observed  them  on  the 
Driftwood,  and  in  other  localities.  The  finest  molar  of  this  animal 
that  I  have  seen  is  in  the  possession  of  Captain  Palmer,  in  Platts- 
mouth,  who  obtained  it  from  the  Republican  Valley.  It  is  finely 
agatized,  and  is  remarkable  for  its  beauty.  It  is  fortunate  for  us 
that  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  gentleman  who  will  retain  it  in  the 
State.  This  species  of  Mastodon  belongs  to  Falconer's  subgenus 
Tetralophodon.  Leidy  was  uncertain  whether  it  had  tusks.  A 
badly  decayed  section  of  a  skull  which  I  found  on  the  Driftwood, 
and  which  unfortunately  fell  to  pieces  in  taking  it  out,  had  a  section  of 
one  tusk  left.  It  is  my  own  conviction  that  it  had  tusks  in  both 
jaws.  This  species  has  not  yet  been  found  elsewhere  outside  of 
Nebraska. 

The  remains  of  a  gigantic  elephant  (Eltyhas  imperator)  was  also 
found  by  Hayden  on  the  Niobrara,  and  described  by  Leidy.  It 
was  either  distinct  from  the  elephant  that  appeared  afterwards  dur- 
ing the  Quaternary,  or  else  was  of  larger  size.  A  portion  of  the 
femur  of  what  I  take  to  be  this  species,  now  in  the  cabinet  of  the 
University,  is  certainly  more  robust  in  form  than  that  of  the 
Quaternary  elephants.  The  remains  of  other  species  have  been 
found  on  the  Niobrara  and  Loup,  but  have  not  yet  been  specifically 
described.  It  is  evi  lent,  therefore,  that  in  Pliocene  times  elephants 
and  mastodons  were  abundant  over  the  land  surface  of  Ne- 
braska. 


THE    TERTIARY   PERIOD,  245 

That  old  type  of  mammals,  so  common  in  Eocene  times,  but 
now  confined  to  South  America,  the  Tapirs  were  represented  in 
the  Pliocene  of  the  plains  by  one  species.  Marsh,  who  describes 
it,  calls  it  Tapirus  rams. 

The  hog  family  (Sutda)  had  fewer  representatives  than  in  the 
preceding  epoch.  One  species  of  peccary  alone  seems  to  have  been 
abundant. 

Ruminants  were  abundant  during  the  Pliocene  in  Nebraska.  An 
antelope,  ( Cosoryx  furcatus^)  described  by  Leidy,  and  intermediate 
in  character  between  the  deers  and  antelopes,  has  left  its  remains  on 
the  Niobrara.  In  company  with  the  last  was  a  true  deer  (Cervus 
Warrent)',  also  described  by  Leidy.  It  was  about  the  size  of  the 
Virginia  deer. 

The  Oreodons,  described  under  the  Miocene,  had  dwindled  in 
the  Pliocene  to  three  species  of  the  genus  Merychyus.  The  rela- 
tive position,  form  of  the  teeth,  and  their  number  was  the  same  as 
in  Oreodon.  The  crowns  of  the  teeth,  however,  were  larger  in 
proportion  to  their  breadth  than  in  Oreodon.  Merychyus  major 
was  the  largest  species,  and  was  near  the  size  of  the  camel.  M. 
medius  was  intermediate  in  size  between  the  llama  and  camel.  On 
the  whole,  while  the  number  of  species  was  less,  the  average  size 
was  greater  in  this  family  than  during  the  Miocene. 

The  camel  family  (Camelida)  were  even  richer  in  genera,  species, 
and  the  number  of  individuals  than  during  the  Miocene.  The 
most  characteristic  genus  was  Procamelus,  which  was  represented 
by  at  least  four  species,  three  of  which  were  described  by  Leidy. 
Their  remains  are  found  on  the  Niobrara,  Loup,  and  Republican. 
Procamelus  had  one  more  premolar  to  the  upper,  and  two  more  to 
the  lower  series  of  teeth  than  in  the  modern  camel.  This  indicated 
a  less  mature  condition,  or  a  condition  before  they  have  shed  those 
teeth  which  reduce  them  to  that  observed  in  their  adult  form.  The 
lower  true  molars  are  also  smaller  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
jaw  than  is  the  existing  camel.  The  molar  series,  though  composed 
of  smaller  teeth  than  in  the  camel,  occupy,  because  of  their  greater 
number,  more  space  along  the  border  of  the  jaw.  Thus  in  the 
camel,  while  the  four  molar  teeth  occupy  five  and  a  half  inches,  in 
i.n  Procamelifc  robustus  the  six  molars  occupy  six  and  a  fourth 
inches. — (Leidy.)  Some  of  the  species  approximate  in  some  of  the 
characters  of  the  lower  jaw  to  the  llamas.  Procamelus  robustus, 
the  largest  species,  was  about  the  size  of  the  existing  camel.  The 


246  GEOLOGY. 

remains  of  P.  occidentalis,  which,  was  about  two-thirds  as  large, 
are  the  most  abundant.  P.  gracilis,  a  still  smaller  species,  was  about 
as  large  as  a  sheep.  I  have  found  the  remains  of  another  species 
most  nearly  related  to  P.  robustus,  and  if  it  proves  to  be  distinct,, 
will  call  it  P.  Nebraskensis.  Another  species,  whose  remains  Hay- 
den  found  on  the  Niobrara,  Leidy  has  called  Homocamelus  caninus^ 
It  was  remarkable,  among  other  things,  for  the  narrow  snout-like 
prolongation  of  the  fore  part  of  the  face.  The  palate  was  more 
deeply  vaulted  than  in  the  camel.  The  caniniform  incisor,  the 
canine  and  first  premolar  were  all  separated  from  each  other,  and 
from  the  succeeding  continuous  row  of  premolars,  and  true  molars 
by  wide  arching  intervals.  The  largest  of  all  the  family,  whose 
remains  were  found,  Leidy  has  named  Megalomeryx  Niobrarensisr 
from  the  locality  where  its  remains  were  obtained.  The  molar 
teeth  had  affinities  to  those  of  the  llama  and  sheep.  It  was  proba- 
bly about  one-fourth  larger  than  the  modern  camel.  A  still  more 
curious,  comprehensive,  camel-like  animal,  described  by  Leidy,  was- 
Merycodus  necatus.  Its  molar  teeth  combined  the  characters  found 
in  the  sheep,  camel,  and  deer.  It  was  about  as  large  as  the  latter 
animal. 

Bisons  already  existed  in  the  Pliocene  epoch  in  Nebraska.  The 
progenitors  of  our  buffalo  probably  then  existed  in  the  forms  which 
Marsh  has  described  under  the  names  of  Bison  ferox  and  Bison 
Alleni. 

A  species  which  Leidy  has  described,  under  the  name  of  Lep- 
tarctus  primus,  was  a  bear-like  animal,  closely  allied  to,  and  about 
the  size  of  the  existing  Coati  of  South  America. 

The  cat  family  (Feiidte)  had  fewer  representatives  than  in  the 
preceding  Miocene.  ./Elu  rod  on-  ferox  was  slightly  larger  than  the 
largest  American  wolves.  One  of  its  sectorial  molars,  according 
to  Leidy,  was  intermediate  in  character  between  that  of  the  wolves 
and  the  cats.  "It  approached  in  size  the  similar  molar  of  a  small 
Bengal  tiger.  It  had  the  proportion  of  the  similar  molar  of  the 
wolves,  and  in  addition  the  anterior  accessory  lobe  of  the  cats." — 
(Leidy.)  The  most  characteristic,  however,  of  these  cats  of  the 
Pliocene,  was  Pseudselurus  intrepidus.  The  first  species  was  found 
and  described  from  the  Miocene  of  France  by  M.  Gervais.  It  was 
somewhat  remarkable  that  another  species  should  be  found  in  the 
Pliocene  of  Nebraska.  The  jaw  of  this  species  was  intermediate 
in  character  between  that  of  the  panther  and  lynx.  The  jaws  and 


THE    TERTIARY    PERIOD.  247 

teeth  were  much  as  in  the  cat  family  generally,  but  in  minute  de- 
tails they  resembled  most  nearly  those  of  the  lynx. 

The  dog  family  (Canidce)  was  much  more  fully  represented 
than  the  last,  not  less  than  four  species  having  already  been  des- 
cribed by  Leidy.  Canis  Haydeni  was  a  wolf  of  much  larger  size 
and  more  robust  form  than  any  now  in  existence.  Another  species 
was  also  slightly  larger  than  any  now  living.  Leidy  calls  it  Canis 
rarus,  and  considers  it  a  near  relative  if  not  actual  projenitor  of  our 
present  wolf  (Canis  occidentalis}.  Cotemporary  with  these  large 
species,  and  inhabiting  the  same  localities,  were  two  of  small  size. 
One  of  these,  called  Canis  temerarius,  was  intermediate  in  form 
between  our  prairie  wolf  and  red  fox.  A  still  smaller  species,  more 
fox  than  wolf,  was  about  the  size  of  the  swift  (Cants  velooc). 

From  the  preceding  it  is  apparent  that  many  forms  of  mammal- 
ian life  culminated  in  the  number  of  species  and  the  size  of  individ- 
uals during  the  Pliocene  epoch.  The  conditions  during  those 
times  must  have  been  exceedingly  favorable  to  the  development  of 
mammalian -life.  Not  the- least  remarkable  is  it  that  most  of  those 
animal  forms  which  are  now  regarded  as  most  useful  to  man  were 
the  most  numerous  and  best  represented  during  an  epoch  when,  so 
far  as  we  now  certainly  know,  he  had  not  become  an  actor  on  the 
stage  of  the  world.  At  least  no  undoubted  monuments  of  his  pres- 
ence in  the  world  during  Pliocene  times  have  been  preserved  in 
geological  history  or  tradition.  The  alleged  special  servants  of 
man,  however,  were  present  during  the  Pliocene  epoch  in  extraor- 
dinary numbers.  Even  the  mastodon  might  have  been  made  as 
serviceable  as  the  elephant  was  in  historic  times.  There  is  no  good 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  great  Niobrara  elephant  (E.  imperator} 
might  have  been  trained  to  toil  as  successfully  as  the  species  now 
living  in  Asia  and  Africa.  Some  of  the  great  number  of  species  of 
the  camel  family  could  certainly  have  been  made  as  useful  as  the 
modern  "  ship  of  the  desert  "  Even  the  horse  family  culminated 
during  those  times  in  the  number  of  species.  The  fifteen  species 
already  described  from  the  Pliocene,  were  probably  only  a  small 
fraction  of  the  kinds  that  then  existed.  If  the  three-toed  H^/trion 
horses  were  not  adapted  to  the  service  of  man,  some  of  the  many 
species  of  Protohippus  and  Equus  certainly  could  have  been  util- 
ized. We  may,  therefore,  abandon  the  idea  that  the  development 
of  animal  life  was  designed  by  the  Supreme  Intelligence  solely  for 
the  gratification  and  use  of  man.  This  may  have  been  one  pur- 


248  GEOLOGY. 

pose,  but,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  could  only  "have  been  one  out 
of  many  conceivable  purposes. 

Let  us  now,  if  we  can,  form  some  picture  of  the  character  and 
physical  condition  of  the  Tertiary  ages.  Take,  for  example,  the 
middle  Pliocene.  Had  we  been  in  existence  then,  and  started  west- 
ward on  a  journey  from  some  point  near  where  the  Missouri  now 
flows,  much  of  the  peculiar  life  of  the  times  would  have  been  ob- 
served. The  climate  was  congenial  in  an  eminent  degree.  The 
great  Pliocene  lake  caused  a  much  moisture  atmosphere  than  exists 
at  present.  Groves  of  Sequoias,  like  the  present  gigantic  trees  of 
California,  the  glyptostrobus  of  China  and  Japan,  the  cypress,  the 
date  and  the  palm,  were  interpersed  with  magnificent  savannas. 
The  songs  of  ten  thousand  birds,  many  of  them  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful plumage,  would  have  greeted  our -ears.  At  some  places,  herds 
of  thousands  of  Oreodons  would  have  been  encountered.  Bisons, 
similar  in  form  to  our  buffaloes,  would  have  been  seen  cropping 
the  grass.  At  other  points  might  have  been  seen  herds  of  elephants 
and  mastodons  quietly  proceeding  towards  some  streamlet,  or  lake- 
let, to  indulge  in  a  bath.  Vast  numbers  of  many  species  of  camels 
would  have  been  seen  reposing  at  mid-day  on  a  gentle  hill-side 
under  the  shade  of  sequoias  or  cypress.  More  curious  than  all, 
thousands  of  H/i^rions,  those  wonderful  three- toed  horses,  along 
with  many  kinds  of  one-toed  horses,  of  all  sizes,  would  sometimes 
have  made  the  earth  tremble  under  their  tread.  When,  at  last,  in 
such  a  westward  journey,  the  shores  of  the  great  Pliocene  lake 
would  be  reached,  its  borders  would  have  been  a  marvel  for  the 
life  represented  there.  A  rhinoceros  might  have  been  seen  wal- 
lowing in  the  mud  near  the  shore.  Thousands  of  water-fowl 
would  have  been  riding  the  gentle  waves.  Elephants,  camels,  ore- 
dons,  and  horses  might  have  been  seen  there  slaking  their  thirst  in 
the  streamlets  flowing  into  the  lake.  Life  would  have  been  ob- 
served everywhere — the  hum  of  insects  and  the  song  of  birds  in 
the  air — life  in  the  trees,  in  forest  and  glade,  on  land  and  lake 
Most  of  it,  too,  was  happy  life.  It  is  true  some  unfortunate  rumin- 
ants would  fall  victims  to  the  gigantic  wolves  and  cats  of  the  time, 
but  the  carnivora  were  not  the  rulers  of  the  land.  Grass  and  leaf, 
and  seed,  and  fruit-eating  animals,  were  the  rulers  of  the  Pliocene 
world  in  central  North  America.  It  was  a  physical  paradise,  for 
violence,  rapine,  and  murder,  were  the  exception  and  not  the  rule 
-Violence,  indeed,  has  existed  in  every  geological  age,  but  in  Plio- 


THE    TERTIARY   PERIOD.  249 

cene  America,  herbivorous  life  was  so  dominant  that  it  could  suc- 
cessfully defend  itself  against  the  carnivora,  and  the  latter  evidently 
obtained  most  of  their  prey  by  stealth  and  by  picking  off  the  aged 
and  infirm.  Animal  life  is  generally  happy  when  it  is  left  alone, 
and  this  was  specially  the  case  during  American  Pliocene  times. 
It  is  a  grave  reflection  on  humanity  that,  not  the  Creator,  but  man's 
injustice  and  inhumanity,  produces  most  of  the  misery  which  we  see 
in  the  world.  This  is,  however,  but  a  very  faint  picture  of  these 
happy  Pliocene  times  which  lasted  for  untold  ages.  But  every  one 
can,  for  himself,  by  "the  aid  of  the  scientific  imagination,"  form 
such  pictures  of  the  wonders  of  that  old-time  world. 

Close  of  the  Pliocene  Epoch. — There  is  evidence  that  the  Pliocene 
•epoch  only  gradually  came  to  a  close.  The  lake  of  the  plains  was 
probably  partially  drained,  and  a  large  part  of  its  surface  became 
dry  land  long  before  the  last  centuries  of  the  Pliocene  had  ended. 
Clarence  King  describes  a  series  "  of  coarse  semi-stratified  gravels 
and  conglomerates  "  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Colorado  Range, 
which,  "  in  the  benches  of  the  Sybille,  distinctly  overlie  the  Nio- 
brara  Pliocene,  which  abut  against  the  Archaean  core  of  the  range," 
from  which  these  materials  were  derived.  The  same  formations 
are  found  at  the  head  of  the  Chugwater,  the  valley  of  the  Big 
Thompson,  and  at  other  points.  In  places  on  these  streams,  these 
gravels  are  from  200  to  300  feet  thick,  and  descend  in  rude  terraces. 
As  these  formations,  according  to  King,  overlie  the  Niobrara  Plio- 
cene, and  antedate  the  Quarternary,  they  evidently  constitute,  the 
closing  deposits  of  the  Pliocene  epoch.  I  have  detected  the  equiv- 
alents of  these  deposits  nowhere  in  Nebraska,  even  where  it  is  least 
eroded.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  great  lake  of  the  plains 
was  drained  before  these  deposits  were  laid  clown.  The  eastern 
border  of  the  great  Pliocene  rim  commenced  to  descend  and  gradu- 
ally left  out  the  water  until  much  of  this  great  lake  of  the  plains 
became  dry  land.  There  is  also  evidence  of  increasing  cold  in  the 
deposits  of  this  lake  through  their  upper  sections.  The  southern 
shores  of  the  lake  were  probably  risin^  *.t  the  same  time,  which 
would  help  to  intensify  the  growing  cold.  An  ice  cap  had  now 
formed  in  polar  regions,  and  conditions  of  climate  similar  to  the 
present  intervened.  A^e  after  age  the  increasing  cold,  accompanied 
by  gradual  elevation  of  land  towards  the  north,  continued,  until 
finally  the  Arctic  ice  cap  crept  down  to  our  present  temperate  lati- 
tudes. The  flora  and  fauna  of  the  Pliocene  migrated  southward, 


250  GEOLOGY. 

and  many  species  and  genera  were  exterminated.  The  distinct 
fauna  that  made  its  appearance  during  the  Quaternary  originated 
some  time  during  this  transformation  of  the  Pliocene  into  the  gla- 
cial epoch. 

During  the  closing  centuries  of  the  Pliocene  epoch,  some  convul- 
sive movements  occurred  further  west.  King  remarks  "  that  the 
whole  country  from  about  114°  30'  was  depressed  to  the  west,  the 
western  edge  of  the  Pliocene  lake  settling  2,000  feet."  *  *  * 
"  The  same  is  true  from  Thousand  Spring  Valley  eastward  to  Cache 
Valley,  and  to  the  base  of  the  Wasatch,  which  is  a  region  of  recur- 
rent faults."  *  *  "I  consider  it  proved  that  the  displacement  at 
the  eastern  base  of  the  Sierras,  and  the  western  base  of  the  WasatchT 
occurred  at  the  close  of  the  Pliocene,  and  thus  broke  the  one  broad 
lacustrine  basin  into  two  new  lake  basins — one  at  the  foot  of  the 
Sierras,  the  other  under  the  shadow  of  the  Wasatch  Range — which 
were  to  receive  the  waters  of  the  quaternal  age."  Thus  it  appears 
that  as  the  Miocene  closed  with  the  production  of  fractures  and 
fissures  that  covered  a  vast  area  with  lava,  so  the  closing  centuries 
of  the  Pliocene  were  characterized  by  great  vertical  displacements 
of  mountain  chains. 

General  Remarks  on  the  Tertiary. — Many  of  the  strata  of  the 
Miocene  deposits  were  specially  favorable  for  the  preservation  of 
animal  remains.  Some  of  the  strata  of  the  Pliocene,  in  at  least  a 
few  localities,  were  scarcely  less  adapted  to  such  a  purpose.  The 
perfect  petrifaction  of  many  of  these  remains  also  indicates  that  this 
property  was  possessed  by  these  waters  in  an  eminent  degree.  The 
mammalian  skeletons  must  have  been  carried  into  the  old  lakes 
during  flood  time  from  some  of  the  low  lands  that  were  subjected 
to  overflow,  and  once  in  the  quiet,  muddy  bottom  of  the  lake,  were 
soon  covered  by  sediments  that  preserved  them  to  our  times.  The 
very  original  sharpness  of  the  outline  of  these  remains  have  been 
preserved.  Seldom  are  any  marks  of  erosion  detected  on  any  of 
the  specimens.  The  curious  feature  about  these  remains  is  that  few 
representatives  of  any  sub-kingdom  of  animals,  except  the  verte- 
brates, have  been  preserved,  and  of  these  no  classes  but  mammals 
and  birds,  except  a  few  species  of  turtles.  No  fishes  have  yet  been 
found,  and  only  a  few  mollusks,  and  these,  except  a  land  snail,  of 
comparatively  low  type.  Fish  and  mollusks  could  not  have  existed 
extensively  in  these  lakes,  or  else  their  remains  would  have  been 
preserved.  The  climate  certainly  was  favorable  to  amphibious 


THE    TERTIARY    PERIOD.  251 

mammals,  but  none,  except  the  marsh-loving  beaver  and  rhinoceros 
have  yet  been  found.  Leidy  has  suggested  that  the  explanation 
might  be  found  in  the  probability  that  these  old  lakes  were  occa- 
sionally flooded  by  the  sea,  producing  an  alternation  of  salt,  brack- 
sh  and  fresh  water  conditions.  If  that  had  been  the  case,  it  appears 
to  me  that  some  indications  of  destroyed  marine  life  would  have 
been  detected.  I  suggest  that  the  explanation  may  be  found  in  the 
probability  that  the  waters  of  these  lakes  were  too  alkaline  to  be  ^ 
favorable  to  life.  The  deposits  from  these  lakes  indicate  an  exces- 
sively alkaline  condition  of  the  water.  They  are  rarely  found  free 
from  the  alkaline  earths,  and  many  of  the  strata  are  almost  wholly 
composed  of  them.  Thick  beds  of  almost  pure  marl  abound — not 
marl  produced  by  beds  of  shells,  but  by  precipitation  from  water 
supersaturated  at  certain  times  with  alkaline  matters.  Such  waters 
certainly  were  most  unfavorable  to  animal  life,  and  accounts  for  the 
paucity  of  fresh  water  remains. 


252  GEOLOGY. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

QUATERNARY   AGE.— GLACIAL    PERIOD    TO    THE 
LOESS.— SUPERFICIAL  DEPOSITS. 

Opening  of  the  Glacial  Period. — A  period  of  great  humidity  and  cold.^— 
Glaciation  of  the  Plains. — Direction  of  the  Glacial  Mass  and  thickness. — Ma- 
terials.— Blue  Clay,  its  extent  and  character. — Eesemblance  to  the  Till  and 
Erie  Clays.— Analysis.— Whitish  Clays.— Boulder  Clay.— Drift  Materials.— 
Description  of  a  Section. — Old  Forest  Bed. — Extent,  Character  and  Sections 
— Its  Fossils  — Second  Appearance  of  Glacial  Drift. — Karaes. — Calcareous  and 
Silicious  Materials. — Section  of  them  and  General  Character. — Transition 
Beds — Analysis  of  the  Calcareous  Materials.— Origin  of  these  Beds. — Course 
of  events  to  the  beginning  of  the  Loess. 

WE  have  seen  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  how  the  Pliocene 
epoch  closed  its  remarkable  history.  Its  closing  centuries 
were  the  opening  ones  of  the  Quaternary  Age.  The  continent 
had  sunken  towards  the  south  and  was  rising  towards  the  north. 
Where  once  had  been  the  floor  of  a  lake  of  the  plains  had  now  su- 
pervened a  very  great  change  of  level.  The  southern  end  of  the 
once  great  Pliocene  lake  was  now,  at  least,  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
the  northern  end  was  7,000  feet  higher.  The  plains  were  dessi- 
cated  before  the  Pliocene  had  entirely  passed  away.  King  has 
given  reasons  to  suppose  that  this  was  even  the  case  with  the  great 
lake  of  the  basin  region — that  between  the  Pliocene  and  Quater- 
nary this  region  was  dried  up.  Following  this  condition  of  dryness 
was  one  of  great  humidity  and  a  much  lower  temperature  than  the 
present.  The  snows  of  winter  accumulated  too  rapidly  finally  to 
be  removed  by  the  summer  warmth.  Eventually  the  plains  ot 
Nebraska  became  glaciated  and  were  covered  by  a  thick  mantle  of 
ice.  This  was  the  first,  or  glacial  period  of  the  Quaternary.  In 
this  respect  Nebraska  agrees  with  the  Quaternary  in  eastern  Amer- 
ica, where  Dana  divides  the  age  into  the  Glacial  period,  the  Cham- 
plain  or  low  level  period,  and  the  Terrace  or  recent  period.  These 
divisions  are  not  strictly  applicable  to  Nebraska.  Here  we  have  a 
Glacial,  a  Boulder  Clay,  or  true  Drift,  a  Forest  Bed,  a  second 
Drift,  Loess  and  Terrace  period.  These  divisions  are  more  or  less 
clearly  outlined  in  our  superficial  geology. 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  253 

GLACIAL  PERIOD. 

The  monuments  of  this  period  are  undoubted.  Along  the  Mis- 
souri River,  from  Fort  Calhoun  to  the  Kansas  line,  wherever  the 
superficial  deposits  are  removed  and  hard  limestones  constitute  the 
surface  rocks,  they  are  worn  as  smooth  as  mirrors,  except  diamond- 
like  scratches  which  cross  them  in  a  direction  averaging  about  17 
degrees  east  of  south.  Below  Plattsmouth  at  one  point  they  run  2f 
degrees  east  of  south.  On  the  Platte,  as  far  west  as  the  limestone 
extends,  the  direction  east  of  south  averages  about  19  degrees. 
At  Stout's  former  stone  quarry,  twelve  miles  southeast  of  Lincoln, 
the  direction  is  13^  degrees  east  of  south.  These  markings  at 
this  quarry  seem  to  cross  fainter  lines  whose  direction  was  a  little 
more  easterly.  In  other  places  these  slightly  divergent  lines  are 
found,  as  if  the  ice  in  glacial  times  had  moved  at  first  more  easterly 
than  it  did  later.  Where  the  rocks  are  of  a  soft,  yielding  nature, 
as  in  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  these  lines  have  long  since  been 
effaced.  That  they  once  existed  is  more  than  probable.  On  the 
Niobrara  at  a  few  points  where  a  hard,  silicious  layer  of  Cretaceous 
rocks  but  recently  was  exposed  to  the  surface,  faint  glacial  lines 
were  visible.  As  such  markings  are  now  made  by  existing  gla- 
ciers, all  geologists  refer  these  scratches  to  a  similar  origin. 

The  materials  lying  on  the  country  rock  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  State  are  additional  evidences  of  the  former  presence  of  glaciers 
on  our  plains.  The  following  section,  taken  on  Oak  Creek,  Lan- 
caster County,  shows  the  character  of  the  materials  laid  down  dur- 
ing this  age.  The  section  begins  at  the  top. 

1.  Black  surface  soil  .........................................   ...  4  feet. 

2.  Loess  ........................................................  21     " 

3.  Calcareous  sand  ..............................................  7     " 

4.  Gravel,    sand  and  drift  boulders  ...............................  5    " 

6.  Black  soil,  with  silicified  wood  ................................  2     " 

6.  Gravel  and  boulders  ..........................................  4     " 

7.  Modified  drift-gravel  and  clay  .................................  9     " 

8.  Blue  clay  ....................................................  .JLT     " 


Farther  up  the  valley  of  Oak  Creek  a  bed  of  blue  clay  exhibited 
the  following  characters.  It  lies  on  the  deposits  of  the  Dakota  Group. 

1.  Blue  clay  ...................................................  5    feet. 

2.  Sand  .....................................................  1       " 

3.  Blue  clay  ....................................................  13       " 

4.  Fine  sand  and  gravel  ........................................     %   " 

5.  Blue  clay  ..................................................  .11       " 

30^  feet. 


254  GEOLOGY. 

Often,  though  not  always,  this  blue  clay  has  intercalated  be- 
tween its  layers  these  thin  strata  of  sand  and  pebbles.  In  Saline 
County  where  they  occur  the  clay  sometimes  shades  into  sand  and 
emerges  from  it  the  same  way.  This  clay  is  a  characteristic  feature  of 
the  earliest  deposits  of  the  Quaternary  over  the  greater  part  of  south- 
ern Nebraska  and  over  a  considerable  section  of  north  Nebraska.  In 
south  Nebraska  it  occurs  in  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  counties. 
It  is  brought  to  light  more  frequently  in  boring  for  water,  but  oc- 
casionally it  also  crops  out  in  railroad  cuts,  ravines  and  small  canyons. 
Its  thickness  ranges  all  the  way  from  five  to  sixty  feet.  Where 
free  from  mechanical  admixture  of  sand,  it  is  exceedingly  compact 
and  hard.  An  augur  penetrates  it  with  great  difficulty,  and  in  such 
cases  it  almost  bids  defiance  to  a  pick.  Occasionally  it  is  full  of 
pebbles,  many  of  which  lie  lengthwise  the  direction  of  the  glacial 
path,  and,  like  the  underlying  rock,  are  marked  by  parallel  striaea. 
At  other  places,  instead  of  pebbles  and  small  boulders,  it  is  inter- 
mixed with  sand  in  greater  or  less  quantity.  In  such  places  it 
readily  permits  of  the  passage  of  water,  but  where  pure  it  is  imper- 
vious. In  most  of  these  characters  it  bears  a  striking  resemblance 
to  the  English  till.*  This  till  Geike  shows  was  first  formed  be- 
neath glacial  ice  (Moraine  Profjnde).  A  body  of  ice  3,000  feet 
thick  moving  forward  a  few  inches  or  feet  in  a  day  would  crush 
and  pulverize  everything  beneath  it.  This  thickness,  at  least  of 
the  glacial  mass,  can  be  inferred  from  the  depth  of  the  ice  mass  in 
the  east,  where  valleys  5,000  feet  deep  were  filled,  as  is  known  by 
the  scorings  that  crossed  them  and  were  made  at  that  height  on  the 
bounding  mountains.  Boulders  are  also  known  to  have  been  car- 
ried across  equally  elevated  mountains.  It  was  nature's  mighty 
millstone  to  reduce  to  powder  the  stony  fragments  and  organic  ma- 
terials beneath  it.  On  the  final  retreat  of  the  glaciers  this-fine,  im- 
palpable mud  in  part  accumulated  at  the  lower  end,  and  in  part  was 
carried  away  by  the  rushing  streams  to  be  deposited  in  quiet 
waters.  In  some  such  way  it  became  somewhat  irregularly  laid 
down  over  the  land.  The  Erie  clays  described  on  the  north  side  of 
Lake  Erie  by  Sir  W.  Logan  had,  according  to  Newberry,  who 
studied  them  so  thoroughly  in  Ohio,  a  similar  origin.  All  such 
clays,  according  to  these  eminent  authorities,  owe  their  character, 
physical  and  chemical,  directly  or  indirectly  to  glacial  action.  In 
Ohio  Newberry,  however,  regards  the  Erie  clays  as  a  result  of  the 

*See  '  'The  Great  Ice  Age,"  by  James  Geike. 


QUATERNARY   AGE. 


255 


flooding  that  followed  immediately  the  first  retreat  of  the  glaciers. 
In  Nebraska,  however,  they  must  have  been  formed  at  first  be- 
neath a  glacial  mass  and  then  modified  only  in  part  by  the  floods 
that  followed  immediately  on  their  retreat.  The  reason  of  this 
opinion  is  that  here  I  have  frequently  found  the  boulders  imbedded 
n  the  blue  clay  lying  lengthwise  of  the  path  of  the  glacier,  and 
striated  like  the  rock  beneath  as  already  stated.  If  this  clay  had 
been  deposited  from  water  this  peculiar  distribution  and  position  of 
the  boulders  would  have  been  impossible. 

The  following  analysis  indicates  the  character  of  this  blue  clay. 
For  purposes  of  comparison,  I  give  also  Wormly's  analysis  of  the 
blue  clay  of  Ohio  :* 


Nebraska 
blue  clay. 

Ohio 
blue  clay. 

Water  

3  70 

4  00 

Silicic  Acid     .           

61  80 

59  70 

Alumina    

13  90 

14  80 

Iron  SesQuioxide                                             ... 

5  01 

4  60 

Lime  Carbonate          ...       .       .       

9  11 

8  90 

1  70 

5  14 

Fixed  Alkalies 

4  01 

3  40 

Loss  in  analysis            .                    

77 

100  00 

100  54 

The  character,  ac,  will  be  observed,  of  these  clays,  though  so 
widely  separated,  closely  resemble  each  other.  It  should,  however, 
be  remembered  that  other  specimens  are  widely  different — some 
having  more  silicic  acid,  alkalies,  iron  or  alumina. 

Above  the  blue  clay,  in  a  few  places,  a  whitish  clay  occurs.  I 
have  not  ascertained  what  relation  it  sustains  to  the  blue  clay,  or 
what  its  chemical  composition  is. 

Above  these  clays  or  till  beds  of  boulder  clay  occur  that  occa- 
sionally exhibit  true  marks  of  stratification.  Following  this  is  or- 
dinary drift  material,  which  lies  directly  on  the  country  rocks,  where 
the  blue,  white  and  boulder  clays  are  absent,  as  often  occurs,  espe- 
cially in  north  Nebraska.  This  drift  material  is  the  most  widely  dif- 
fused geological  deposit  in  the  State,  though  in  vertical  thickness  it  is 
much  less  than  others.  Sometimes,  in  a  few  townships  of  some  coun- 
ties, it  constitutes  the  surface  soil,  but  generally  it  is  buried  beneath 
later  deposits.  In  rare  instances  it  seems  to  have  been  removed 
from  the  uplands  by  denudation,  before  the  Loess  was  formed. 


l.  I.  of  Xewberry's  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  page  177. 


256  -  GEOLOGY. 

Sometimes,  where  it  is  exposed  at  the  surface,  it  is  so  mingled  with 
the  Loess,  Alluvium,  and  organic  matter  as  to  escape  the  attention 
of  any  one  save  a  practical  geologist.  It  ranges  in  thickness  from 
a  few  inches  to  seventy-five  feet.  It  may  be  much  thicker,  but  if 
so  I  have  seen  no  exposures  that  indicate  it.  Nowhere  does  it  come 
to  the  surface  over  wide  areas.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  State 
it  occasionally  constitutes  the  surface,  in  the  southern  part  of  Dixon 
County,  in  the  northern  part  of  Wayne,  and  in  portions  of  Cedarr 
Knox,  Pierce*,  Antelope,  and  Holt  counties.  In  townships  30  and 
and  31  north,  range  I  and  2  east,  in  Cedar  County,  semicircular 
rows  of  Drift  pebbles  and  boulders  even  yet  extend  across  narrow 
valleys,  that  lie  on  the  flanks  of  high  bluffs  in  the  form  of  terminal 
moraines  of  glaciers,  the  marks  of  which  unnumbered  centuries 
have  not  been  able  to  efface.  In  this  region  some  of  the  glacier- 
marked  boulders  are  of  great  size,  weighing  many  tons.  One  of 
the  most  remarkable  lies  near  the  quarter-section  stone,  between 
sections  25  and  36,  in  township  30  north,  range  I  east.  It  lies  on 
top  of  the  highest  bluff  i.n  this  region,  from  which  there  is  a  mag- 
nificent view  of  the  whole  country  around.  It  is  a  granitic  quartz- 
ose  rock,  about  four  feet  square.  On  the  level  top-surface  there  is 
a  beautiful  engraving  of  a  child's  foot,  a  half-moon,  a  grape-vine, 
and  other  hieroglyphics.  The  engraving  of  the  child's  foot  is  cut 
in  its  deepest  part,  three-fourths  of  an  inch  into  the  hardest  rock, 
and  for  fidelity  to  nature  it  would  do  honor  to  the  work  of  a  Greek 
artist.  Previous  to  my  discovery  of  this  relic  of  the  past  (1869),  no 
one  in  that  region  had  heard  of  its  existence.  It  may  have  been 
the  work  of  the  mound-builders,  as  their  peculiar  pottery  and 
mounds  are  found  near  by,  but  what  implements  enabled  them  to 
carve  these  symbols  in  this  hard  rock,  as  well  as  the  purpose  of 
such  a  monument,  at  such  a  place,  will  probably  always  remain  a 
mystery. 

South  of  the  Platte  the  Drift  creeps  to  the  surface  on  some  of 
the  hillsides  of  Lancaster,  Saunders,  Saline,  Butler,  Gage,  Seward, 
Johnson,  Pawnee,  and  Jefferson  counties.  In  fact,  there  are  few 
counties  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  where  the  Drift  is  not  oc- 
casionally exposed  by  denudation.  Four  miles  northwest  of  Ne- 
braska City,  on  the  farm  of  Hon.  J.  F.  Kinney,  is  a  granitic  boulder 
as  large  as  a  small  house,  on  whose  top  smooth  holes  have  been 
worn  by  the  Indians  in  grinding  or  pounding  corn.  This  boulder 
is  imbedded  in  a  Loess  deposit,  through  which  it  extends  from  the 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  257 

Drift  below.  Here,  as  in  most  other  regions,  the  Drift  varies  a 
great  deal  in  character.  As  already  intimated,  it  has  here  been  so 
modified  by  subsequent  lacustrine  agencies  as  generally  to  be  ca- 
pable of  high  cultivation.  Recently  I  have  made  a  special  exam- 
ination of  the  modified  Drift  in  Johnson  County.  Where  the 
ground  was  covered  with  pebbles,  the  spade  showed  that  the  soil 
beneath  was  composed  largely  of  Loess  materials,  mixed  with 
Drift  sand  and  clay,  and  organic  matter.  Here  it  is  often  in  layers, 
showing  that  it  is  genuine  modified  Drift.  This  modified  Drift 
soil,  during  the  last  season,  where  it  was  well  cultivated,  yielded 
sixty  bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre.  It  is  only  inferior,  if  inferior  at 
all,  to  the  Loess,  which  will  be  considered  in  the  next  section. 
Where  this  Drift  is  the  purest,  it  is  composed  of  boulders,  some  of 
which  are  of  large  size,  pebbles,  gravel,  sand,  and  a  small  per  cent 
of  alumina.  In  places  the  Drift  contains  considerable  lime,  which 
was,  no  doubt,  produced  by  the  disintegration  during  glacial  times 
of  the  Niobrara  division  of  Cretaceous  rocks.  Sometimes  frag- 
ments of  these  Cretaceous  rocks  are  found  in  the  Drift.  Generally 
the  pebbles  and  boulders  are  composed  of  the  primary  rocks,  such 
as  quartz,  quartzose,  granite,  greenstone,  syenite,  gneiss,  porphyry, 
actinolite,  etc.  Occasionally  the  year  presence  of  the  Drift  is  indi- 
cated by  large  boulders  sticking  up  through  soil  composed  of  very 
different  material.  In  such  cases  I  have  learned  by  experience  to 
look  for  the  modified  Drift,  which  is  so  valuable  in  the  agriculture 
of  this  State.  In  the  few  localities  where  all  the  finer  matter  has 
been  removed  by  water  agency,  numbers  of  the  different  forms  of 
variegated  agates,  carnelians,  jaspars,  sardonyx,  onyx,  opals  and 
petrified  wood,  etc.,  are  found.  Agates  and  petrified  wood  are 
specially  abundant.  The  latter  is  found  almost  in  every  exposure 
of  the  Drift.  Some  of  the  agates  vie  in  beauty  with  those  obtained 
from  the  most  celebrated  localities  in  the  mountains.  Judging  from 
the  remains  of  the  matrix  still  attached  to  some  of  them,  they  were 
originally  formed  in  the  secondary  rocks,  from  which  they  were 
separated  by  the  disintegration  to  which  they  were  subjected  by 
the  wear  and  tear  of  the  elements  in  glacial  times. 

A  brief  description  of  a  remarkable  section  through  the  Drift  on 
Oak  Creek,  Lancaster  County,  will  not  be  out  of  place.  A  few 
miles  from  Lincoln  the  terrace  on  this  creek,  composed  of  Loess 
materials,  approaches  the  creek  very  closely.  In  this  well  the 
Loess  deposit  was  fifteen  feet  in  thickness,  then  came  two  feet  of 


258  GEOLOGY. 

/ 

Drift,  then  two  feet  of  compact  peat,  then  clay  and  black  soil,  and 
then  Drift  and  blue  clay  again.  The  lower  Drift  here  probably 
represents  the  period  of  the  first  glacial  advance.  The  upper  clay, 
black  soil,  and  peat  represent  the  middle  period  when  the  glaciers 
had  retreated  and  a  new  forest-bed  covered  the  State.  The  Drift, 
immediately  on  top  of  this,  marks  the  second  advance  of  the  gla- 
ciers. The  Loess  on  top  represents  the  final  retreat  of  the  glaciers, 
and  that  era  of  depression  of  the  surface  of  the  State  when  the 
greater  part  of  it  constituted  a  great  fresh-water  lake  into  which  the 
Missouri,  the  Platte  and  the  Republican  rivers  poured  their  waters. 
Old  Forest  Bed. — This  is  not  observed  in  sections  through  the 
Quaternary  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  Sometimes  it  is  apparently 
absent  from  whole  counties,  and  probably  its  removal  was  caused 
by  a  second  advance  of  the  glaciers,  to  be  considered  presently.  In 
some  of  the  canyons  of  the  Loup  region  I  have  found  the  bed  of 
black  soil,  but  without  a  vestige  of  silicified  wood.  In  other  sec- 
tions of  the  same  region  it  was  sparingly  present.  It  is  possible 
that  this  may  have  been  occasioned  by  a  condition  slightly  resem- 
bling the  present — that  is,  a  condition  of  alternating  forests  and 
prairies.  Though  it  is  evident  that  the  proportion  of  forest  to  prai- 
rie must  have  been  much  greater  than  at  present,  as  east  of  the  99th 
meridian  in  30  sections  that  I  have  examined  through  the  Old  For- 
•est  Bed,  twenty-three  contained  silicified  wood.  West  of  the  99th 
meridian  only  three  out  of  fifteen  sections  contained  any.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  section  in  a  canyon  running  into  the  West  Loup,  where 
no  wood  was  visible.  I  examined  the  exposure  carefully  for  half  a 
mile,  and  the  most  dilligent  search  failed  to  bring  any  to  light : 

Surface  soil 3  feet. 

Loess 21  « 

Calcareous  sand  and  gravel 7  " 

Boulders,  flint  and  gravel 4  " 

Carbonaceous,  shaly  clay 3  " 

Black  soil 4  " 

Silicious  clay 2     «' 

Gravel  and  boulders,  exposed 3  " 

The  black  soil  of  the  Old  Forest  Bed  in  color  and  constitution 
closely  resembles  the  black  surface  soils  of  the  State  at  the  present 
time.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  lower  half.  The  upper  por- 
tion has  probably  been  so  modified  by  subsequent  glacial  and  water 
agencies  as  no  longer  to  exhibit  its  original  character.  As  already 
observed  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  specially  large  quantities 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  259 

of  silicified  wood  are  found  in  this  Old  Forest  Bed.  Of  fifty  speci- 
mens that  I  examined  microscopically  at  different  times,  thirty-nine 
were  conifers.  A  few  oaks,  a  willow,  a  cottonwood  and  some 
other  species  that  I  could  not  determine  also  occurred  among  them. 
If  these  specimens  are  any  indication  of  dominant  type,  then  a  con- 
iferous vegetation  flourished  here  during  those  times.  Here  are 
also  found  the  remains  of  the  elephant,  mastodon,  the  Bison  lati- 
frons,  a  huge  elk  and  deer,  and  the  giant  beaver  {Castor  Ohiaticus}. 
Curiously  enough,  I  found  the  molar  of  a  horse  in  this  same  bed, 
but  too  much  injured  to  identify  specifically.  An  abundant  animal 
life,  a  life  remarkable  for  its  gigantic  character,  ruled  in  these  old 
forests.  It  was  probably  colder  than  at  present  in  the  same  lati- 
tudes, but  with  conditions  of  moisture  and  temperature  eminently 
adapted  to  the  production  of  vast  and  sombre  forests,  whose  soli- 
tudes were  enlivened  principally  by  huge  herbivorous  and  carnivor- 
ous mammals.  That  the  Forest  Bed  period  was  a  long  one  is  clear 
from  the  thickness  of  the  bed  that  was  formed,  from  its  vast  forests 
and  the  remains  of  its  abounding  animal  life.  Black  soils  form 
with  excessive  slowness,  and  as  the  Forest  Bed  is  known,  even  in 
Nebraska,  to  have  a  thickness  in  places  of  ten  feet,  the  time  involved 
in  its  production  is  simply  incalculable. 

Second  Appearance  of  Glacial  Drift. — On  top  of  the  Old  Forest 
bed  materials,  and  where  these  have  been  removed,  on  top  of  the 
silicious  clay  floor  of  the  Forest  Bed,  occur  gravel,  sands  of  various 
degrees  of  fineness,  boulders  and  boulder  clay.  In  places  the 
boulders  of  various  sizes  constitute  the  principal  portion  of  the  over- 
lying materials.  Sometimes  these  boulders  are  marked  with  par- 
allel striae,  and  beds  and  piles  of  them  occur  of  enormous  thickness. 
One  such  exists  on  the  banks  of  Oak  Creek,  six  miles  from  Lin- 
coln. Here  I  measured  seventeen  feet  of  vertical  thickness  of  these 
boulders  of  all  sizes,  from  a  grain  of  corn  to  a  hundred  pounds  in 
weight — some  rounded  and  some  angular,  with  sand  also  intermin- 
gled. In  the  upper  portion  of  these  beds  there  are  signs,  with 
greater  or  less  distinctness,  of  stratification.  Often  it  bears  in  its 
lower  portions  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  drift  materials  below 
the  Forest  Beds.  Above  the  indistinctly  stratified  materials  are 
various  beds  in  places  where  the  stratification  is  undoubted.  These 
beds  are  mostly  made  up  of  variously  colored  gravels  and  sands,  the 
latter  predominating. 

Kames. — On  the  Logan,  Elkhorn,  on  tributaries  of  the  Republi- 
can and  Loup,  and  in  other  places  occur  long  rows  of  sometimes 


260  GEOLOGY. 

gravels  and  sometimes  sands,  very  distinct  from  the  Pliocene  sands 
of  the  Niobrara.  The  Loess  deposits  to  be  described  hereafter 
abut  against  them,  but  often  their  tops  have  been  blown  over  the 
Loess  to  such  an  extent  that  even  geologists  have  been  deceived  in- 
to the  belief  that  they  are  of  very  recent  origin.  They,  however, 
antedate  the  Loess,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  they  extend  be- 
neath the  latter.  I  am  not  sure  whether  any  of  them  exhibit  any 
true  marks  of  stratification.  They  bear  some  resemblance  to  the 
Kames  of  Scotland  and  Asars  of  Scandinavia,  and  to  them  they 
are  for  the  present  referred,  though  doubtfully.  Though  their  up- 
per portions  are  composed  of  sands,  they  often  shade  down  into- 
fine  and  then  coarse  gravels.  This  is  specially  true  in  southwest 
Nebraska,  where  at  long  intervals  canyons  are  found  which  par- 
tially cut  through  them. 

Calcareous  and  Silicious  Materials. — Between  the  deposits  which 
are  doubtfully  referred  to  the  Kames,  and  lying  on  their  flanks,  oc- 
our,  in  many  places,  great  beds  of  fine  silicious  matter,  which  in 
places  is  calcareous  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and  is  especially 
rich  in  iron,  mostly  in  the  form  of  a  sesquioxide.  It  is  often  mis- 
taken for  Loess,  whose  character  it  often  approaches.  The  best  ex- 
amples of  it  are  seen  in  the  Republican  Valley,  from  Harlan 
County  westward,  where  the  line  of  junction  between  it  and  the 
overlying  Loess  is  sharply  outlined,  and  is  exposed  for  thirty  miles. 
Its  color  is  a  darker  reddish  brown  than  Loess.  Under  the  micro- 
scope, the  silicious  materials  appear  coarser  than  the  Loess,  with 
the  addition,  occasionally,  of  small  water-worn  pebbles.  It  also 
varies  much  more  in  character.  The  following  analysis,  only  par- 
tially completed,  indicates  its  chemical  character : 

Insoluble  (silicious)  matter 78 . 10 

Ferric  oxide 5.9& 

Alumina 2 . 70 

Lime  carbonate 11 . 01 

Lime  phosphate,  undetermined. 
Magnesia  carbonate,      " 
Potassa,  " 

Soda,  " 

At  other  points  in  Nebraska  this  reddish  brown  silicious  matter 
shades  insensibly  into  the  overlying  Loess.  Such  examples  can  be 
seen  along  the  Missouri  River  from  Plattsmouth  to  the  south  line 
of  the  State.  Along  this  same  route  beds  of  almost  pure  sand  oc- 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  261 

casionally  take  its  place.  There  are  a  few  such  points  between  La 
Platte  and  Omaha.  Not  unfrequently  this  deposit  is  highly  cal- 
careous in  its  lower  and  upper  portion.  When  it  gradually  shades 
•down  into  gravel  and  boulder  beds,  the  latter  are  often  covered  by 
incrustrations  of  calcareous  and  other  alkaline  matter.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  the  alkaline  matter  that  has  been  leached  out  of  the  over- 
lying beds  was  deposited  on  these  underlying  pebbles  and  boulders. 
I  am,  however,  by  no  means  sure  that  this  explanation  is  the  cor- 
rect one.  The  most  remarkable,  however,  of  the  deposits  at  this 
horizon,  are  the  strata  of  calcareous  and  other  alkaline  matters  that 
are  found  in  the  upper  portion  of  these  silicious  beds.  The  amount 
of  alkaline  matter  ranges  from  ten  to  ninety  per  cent  and  the  beds 
vary  in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  fifteen  feet.  Between  Ne- 
braska City  and  Brownville,  along  the  Missouri  bluffs,  are  some 
fine  exposures  of  these  alkaline  beds,  though  they  are  more  min- 
gled with  sand  and  gravel  than  farther  west.  The  calcareous 
concretions  found  here  are,  however,  exceedingly  abundant  and 
beautiful.  Samples  are  common  which  measure  from  one  to  five 
inches  in  diameter.  Inside  they  are  sometimes  partially  hollow,  and 
portions  of  the  mass  being  separated  and  loose,  they  rattle,  on  being 
shaken  after  drying.  In  Saline  County  there  is  a  thin,  almost  pure 
snow  white  layer  of  this  calcareous  matter.  Further  west,  in  Web- 
ster, Fillmore,  Hamilton,  York  and  some  other  counties  north,  as 
well  as  south  of  the  Platte,  this  alkaline  material  occurs  at  this  hori- 
zon at  various  localities.  It  differs  greatly  in  thickness  and  extent 
of  beds,  and  in  the  proportions  of  the  alkalies  present  and  silicious 
materials  with  which  it  is  combined.  It  has  sometimes  been  used 
for  mortar  and  plastering,  and  from  the  people  has  received  the 
name  of  natural  morlar.  It  does  not,  however,  avail  for  outside 
work,  as  the  rain  softens  and  gradually  removes  it.  Not  unfre- 
quently layers  of  this  alkaline  matter  are  separated  by  layers  of 
sand,  and  even  higher  up  in  the  series,  where  it  occurs  in  the 
Loess,  as  it  sometimes  does,  it  is  separated  into  thin  strata  by  the 
same  materials.  The  following  section,  taken  about  five  miles 
northwest  from  Fairmount,  illustrates  the  mode  of  its  occurrence : 

1.  Black  soil 4  feet. 

2.  Loess 17     " 

3.  Calcareous  and  other  alkaline  earths 1     " 

4.  Loess 2     " 

5.  Calcareous  and  other  alkaline  earths 7    " 

<>.     Brownish  calcareous  sand,  exposed 3     " 


262  GEOLOGY. 

The  following  analysis  of  these  alkaline  deposits  show  how  they 
vary  in  character.  Both  specimens  were  obtained  from  Fillmore 
County: 


INO.I. 

NO.  2. 
55.11 

.70 
1.21 
19.70 

7.13 
4.01 

Insoluble  (silicious)  matter 

21  00 
1.17 
1.80 
33.14 

11.33 
3.80 

Alumina  

Peroxide  of  iron  

Lime  carbonate 

L/irne   phosphate,    undetermined              .  .                   ... 

Magnes'a  carbonate,         "             

Potassa,                              '  '            

Soda,                                   " 

Organic  matter,                 "            ....         .... 

Moisture  .'  

These  two  specimens  indicate  the  presenqe  of  a  large  quantity  of 
magnesia  and  lime.  Along  the  Missouri  the  alkaline  concretions 
at  this  horizon  are  largely  composed,  in  places,  of  magnesia.  They 
are  white  in  color  and  vary  in  size  from  a  pea  to  from  one  to  three 
inches  in  diameter.  It  is  probable  that  a  portion  of  the  calcareous- 
materials  that  are  present  in  these  deposits  came  from  the  chalk 
rocks  of  the  Niobrara  Group  that  still  exists  in  northeast  Nebraska 
and  Dakota  Territory.  I  have  sometimes  found  in  the  Drift,  and 
also  mingled  with  other  alkaline  deposits,  small  chalk  rock.  At 
one  place  below  Plattsmouth  one  of  these  chips  of  chalk  contained 
a  fish  scale  characteristic  of  the  Niobrara  Group.  Among-  the 
eroded  calcareous  materials  that  were  carried  down  into  this  lake 
the  chalk  rocks  must  have  constituted  a  large  portion.  Evidently 
the  waters  became  supersaturated  with  alkaline  matter  either  by 
excessive  activity  of  the  eroding  agents — ice  and  torrents — orr 
which  is  more  probable,  by  partial  dessication  of  the  lake.  We 
have  an  exemplification  of  this  kind  of  agency  in  the  present  and 
past  history  of  the  lakes  in  the  Utah  basin.  The  analysis  of  its 
waters  give  a  remarkably  small  per  cent  of  carbonate  of  lime. 
And  yet  the  rivers  bring  a  large  amount  of  it  annually  into  the 
lake.  King,  however,  has  shown  in  the  4oth  parallel  survey  that 
lime  in  the  form  of  tufa  or  thinolite  has  been  precipitated  in  im- 
mense quantities  during  some  portions  of  its  history.  When  the 
waters  of  Salt  Lake,  (Lake  Bonneville  formerly,  King),  receded 
below  the  line  of  outflow,  but  were  kept  at  a  high  level  for  long 
periods  of  time,  great  beds  of  tufa  were  deposited,  especially  along 
the  shore,  and  to  some  extent  towards  its  interior.  Lake  Lahontan 
(west  of  Lake  Bonneville)  is  still  a  more  remarkable  instance  where 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  263 

calcareous  tufas  were  produced.  In  reference  to  this,  King  re- 
marks :  "  The  occurrence  of  such  a  tremendous  formation  of  alka- 
line carbonates,  necessitates  a  very  long  period,  during  which  the 
surface  of  Lake  Lahontan  was  some  distance  below  its  level  of 
outlet.  To  account  for  the  existing  presence  of  the  weak  solutions 
of  the  residual  lakes,  it  is  necessary,  after  the  formation  of  gay-lus- 
site  and  its  pseudomorphism  into  thinolite,  to  suppose  a  flood-period 
during  which  the  lake  had  free  drainage  over  its  outlet,  and  which 
continued  long  enough,  practically,  to  wash  out  the  saline  contents 
of  the  great  lake."  Now  in  a  way  somewhat  similar,  it  is  possible 
that  in  immediately  pre-Loess  times,  the  great  Quaternary  lake  of 
Nebraska  and  western  Iowa,  may  have  become  so  reduced  in  vol- 
ume by  climatic  change  as  to  lose  more  by  evaporation  than  by 
overflow,  anfl  then  through  the  interaction  of  other  chemical 
agents,  precipitated  its  alkalies  to  the  bottom.  That  some  such 
agency  was  here  at  work  for  a  long  time,  is  evident  from  the  extent 
and  great  thickness  of  these  alkaline  deposits.  When  finally  this 
condition  of  things  was  drawing  to  a  close,  the  finer  silicious  de- 
posits commenced  to  form,  which  shaded  into  the  Loess  or  next 
deposit  above.  As  already  observed,  these  transition  beds  can  be 
seen  in  the  Republican  Valley,  and  with  still  greater  distinctness  in 
some  of  the  small  canyons  in  the  region  of  the  Loups,  where  often 
it  is  impossible  to  tell  with  exactness  where  the  Loess  or  next  de- 
posit above  begins. 

Resume  of  Geological  History  between  the  Glacial  and  Loess  Pe- 
riods.—-We  have  seen  that  the  retreating  ice  sheet  of  the  Glacial 
Period  left  in  its  path  huge  beds  of  blue  clay  and  other  Drift  ma- 
terials, which  in  their  upper  portions  were  modified  by  water 
agency.  The  land  was  flooded,  and  over  the  great  lake  or  interior 
sea  thus  formed  icebergs  floated  and  dropped  their  loads  of  sand, 
gravel  and  boulders  on  the  bottoms,  and  where  they  were  stranded 
left  this  debris  in  enormous  heaps.  This  period  of  depression  and 
floods  was  followed  by  one  of  slow  elevation,  when  the  waters 
were  drained  off  and  a  new  forest  bed  was  formed  to  the  shores  of 
the  retreating  lakes,  or  to  the  foot  of  the  glacier  mass.  As  the 
period  of  glaciation  was  a  time  of  great  relative  humidity,  this 
must  also  have  been  the  character  of  the  climate  all  through  the 
flood  and  Old  Forest  Bed  period.  The  ice  sheet  again  advanced 
and  destroyed  these  magnificent  forests  before  it.  Newberry,  who 
first  directed  attention  to  this  Old  Forest  Bed,  found  no  evidences 


264  GEOLOGY. 

of  this  period  of  glaciation  in  Ohio.  Here,  however,  it  is  clear. 
It  has  also  been  observed  in  northeastern  Iowa  by  W.  J.  McGee.* 
I  attribute  the  absence  of  this  Forest  Bed  in  many  sections  of  Ne- 
braska to  the  second  advance  of  the  ice  sheet  in  these  regions.  It 
probably  failed  to  advance  so  far  south  in  Ohio  and  other  sections 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  When  this  ice  sheet  commenced  its  re- 
treat, another  period  of  depression  came  on,  whefi  the  land  was 
again  flooded,  and  a  lake  of  fresh  water  again  occupied  the  plains. 
This  body  of  water  for  ages  abutted  against  the  ice  sheet  on  the 
north,  from  which  it  received  icebergs  that  floated  over  its  waters. 
In  these  waters  the  materials  left  by  the  retreating  glaciers  were 
remodified  in  their  upper  portion,  and  new  matter  was  brought 
down  by  torrents  and  icebergs.  When  the  ice  sheet  retreated  from 
the  shores  of  this  lake  or  interior  sea,  finer  sediment*  began  to  be 
laid  down.  Fine  sand  took  the  place  of  gravels  and  boulders,  and 
as  the  waters  contracted  in  volume  the  calcareous  matter  held  in 
suspension  began  to  be  precipitated.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the 
lake  was  entirely  dessicated  previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  Loess 
period.  It  was  only  reduced  to  smaller  dimensions.  W^hen  at  last 
central  and  eastern  Iowa  became  dry  land,  and  the  ice  sheet  had 
retreated  to  the  upper  Missouri  and  the  Yellowstone,  the  Loess 
materials  began  to  be  laid  down  on  the  floor  of  the  old  lake  bed. 
So  important,  however,  are  these  Loess  materials  in  historic  and 
economic  geology  that  they  will  be  discussed  in  a  separate  chapter. 


*See  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  Vol.  15,  page  339. 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  265 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    QUATERNARY    AGE,    AND    SUPERFICIAL 
DEPOSITS,  CONTINUED.     LOESS  PERIOD. 

Name. — Extent. — Thickness. — Homogeneous  Character. — Chemical  Char- 
acter.— Analyses.— Drainage. — Physical  Character.  — Example. — Cause  of 
these  Peculiarities  of  the  Loess. — Fruit  on  the  Loess  deposits. — Scenery 
produced  by  the  Loess. — Origin  of  the  Loess. — Kichthofen's  Theory. — Recent 
Advocates  of  this  Theory. — Facts  bearing  out  this  Theory  in  the  -Nebraska 
Loess. — Objections  to  this  Theory. — Root  Marks  and  their  depth  in  the  Ne- 
braska Loess. — How  Explained  on  the  Subaqueous  Theory. — Facts  learned 
from  Sections  in  the  Republican  Valley  and  South  of  Plum  Creek.— Changes 
of  Level  Proved,  by  Fossil  Soils  in  the  Loess. — Differences  in  the  Present 
Level  of  Loess  Districts,  and  its  Causes. — Land  and  Fresh  Water  Shells  in 
the  Loess,  and  How  Explained. — Stratification  of  Loess,  and  its  Lessons. — 
True  Origin  of  the  Loess. — Resume  of  its  History. — Missouri  Mud,  its 
Analysis  and  Identity  with  the  Loess. — Length  of  the  Loess  Period. — Re- 
mains of  Man. — Climate. — List  of  Shells  in  the  Loess.  ^ 

THE  LOESS  DEPOSITS. 

The  Loess  deposits  first  received  the  name  from  Lyell,  who  ob- 
served it  closely  along  the  Mississippi  in  various  places.  Hayden 
frequently  calls  it  the  bluff  formation,  because  of  the  peculiar  config- 
uration that  it  gives  to  the  uplands  which  border  the  flood  plains  of 
the  rivers.  He  also  frequently  calls  them  marl-beds.  This  deposit, 
although  not  particularly  rich  in  organic  remains,  is  in  some  re- 
spects one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  world.  Its  value  for  agri- 
cultural purposes  is  not  exceeded  anywhere.  It  prevails  over  at 
least  three-fourths  of  the  surface  of  Nebraska.  It  ranges  in  thick- 
ness from  five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Some  sections  of  it 
in  Dakota  County  measure  over  two  hundred  feet.  At  North 
Platte,  300  miles  west  of  Omaha,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river,  some  of  the  sections  that  I  measured  ranged  in  thickness 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
From  Crete,  on  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River  Railroad,  west 
to  Kearney,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  its  thickness  for  ninety 


266  GEOLOGY. 

miles  ranges  from  forty  to  ninety  feet.  South  of  Kearney,  and  for 
a  great  distance  west,  along  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  as  far  as  to 
the  Republican,  there  is  a  great  expanse  of  territory  covered  by  a 
great  thickness  of  this  deposit.  I  measured  many  sections  in  wells 
over  this  region,  and  seldom  found  it  less  than  forty,  and  often  more 
than  sixty  feet  in  thickness.  Along  the  Republican  I  traced  the 
formation  almost  to  the  western  line  of  the  State,  its  thickness- 
ranging  from  thirty  to  seventy  feet.  One  section  north  of  Kearney, 
on  Wood  River,  showed  a  thickness  of  fifty  feet.  The  same  varia- 
tion in  thickness  is  found  along  the  counties-  bordering  on  the  Mis- 
souri. One  peculiarity  of  this  deposit  is  that  it  is  generally  almost 
perfectly  homogeneous  throughout,  and  of  almost  uniform  color, 
however  thick  the  deposit,  or  far  apart  the  specimens  have  been 
taken.  I  have  compared  many  specimens  taken  300  miles  apart, 
and  from  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  deposits,  and  no  difference  could 
be  detected  by  the  eye  or  by  chemical  analysis. 

Over  80  per  cent  of  this  deposit  is  very  finely  comminuted  silica. 
When  washed  in  water,  left  standing,  and  the  water  poured  off,  and 
the  coarser  materials  have  settled,  the  residuum,  after  evaporation 
to  dryness,  is  almost  entirely  composed  of  fine  silicious  powder. 
So  fine,  indeed,  are  the  particles  of  silica,  that  its  true  character  can 
alone  Ire  detected  by  analysis  or  under  a  microscope.  About  ten 
per  cent  is  composed  of  the  carbonates  and  phosphates  of  lime. 
These  materials  are  so  abundant  in  these  deposits,  that  they  spon- 
taneously crystalize,  or  form  concretions,  from  the  size  of  a  shot  to 
that  of  a  walnut;  and  these  are  often  hollow  or  contain  some  or- 
ganic matter,  or  a  fossil,  around  which  the  crystallization  took 
place.  Almost  anywhere,  when  the  soil  is  turned  over  by  the  plow 
or  in  excavations,  these  concretions  may  be  found.  Often,  after  a 
rain  has  washed  newly-thrown-up  soil,  the  ground  seems  to  be  lit- 
erally covered  with  them.  Old  gopher  hills  and  weather  beaten 
hill-sides  furnish  these  concretions  in  unlimited  quantities  for  the 
geologist  and  the  curiosity  hunter.  When  first  exposed,  most  of 
these  concretions  are  soft  enough  to  be  rubbed  fine  between  the 
fingers,  but  they  gradually  harden  by  exposure  to  the  atmosphere. 
This  deposit  also  contains  small  amounts  of  alkaline  matter,  iron, 
and  alumina.  For  the  purpose  of  showing  the  homogeneous 
character  and  the  chemical  properties  of  the  Loess  deposits,  I  have 
made  five  new  analyses  of  this  soil.  No.  i  is  from  Douglas  County, 
near  Omaha;  No.  2  from  the  bluffs  near  Kearney;  No.  3  from  the 


QUATERNARY   AGE. 


267 


Lower  Loup;  No.  4  from  Button,  and  No.  5  from  the  Republican 
Valley,  near  Orleans,  in  Harlan  County : 


NO.  1. 

NO.  2. 

NO.  3. 

NO.  4. 

NO.  5. 

Insoluble  ("siliciousYmatter 

81  28 

81  32 

81.35 

81.30 

81.32 

Ferric  oxide                                         

3  86 

3.87 

3.83 

3.85 

3.86 

Alumina  

.75 

»  .75 

.74 

.73 

.74 

Lime  carbonate 

6  06 

6  06 

6  03 

6  05 

6  09 

Lime   phosphate 

3  59 

3  59 

3  58 

3.57 

3  5D 

Magnesia,   carbonate      .       

1.28 

1  28 

1  31 

1.31 

1.29 

Potassa      .       

.27 

.29 

.35 

.34 

.33 

Soda 

15 

.16 

14 

16 

1(> 

Organic  matter               .       

1.0? 

1.06 

1  05 

1.06 

1  06 

Moisture               

1.09 

1.08 

1  09 

1  08 

1.09 

Loss  in  analysis  

.59 

.54 

.53 

.55 

.4-7 

100.00 

TooooT 

1UO.OO 

loo".  06" 

100.00 

After  making  the  above  analyses  I  received  from  Dr.  Hayden 
his  Final  Report  on  the  Geology  of  Nebraska.  This  report,  on 
page  12,  contains  two  analyses  of  the  Loess  deposit  from  Hannibal, 
Mo.,  made  by  Dr.  Litton.  According  to  these  analyses,  from  one 
hundred  parts  there  were — 


No.  1. 

No.  2. 

Silica                                           

76.98 

77.02 

Alumina  and  peroxide  of  iron  

11.54 

12.10 

Lime    .         

3.87 

3.25 

Maznesia 

1.68 

1.63 

Carbonic  acid                                 

Not  determined 

2.83 

Water                            .       

2.01 

2.43 

96.17 

99.2ft 

According  to  these  analyses  the  Loess  contains  more  clay  in  Mis- 
souri than  it  does  in  Nebraska.  The  analyses  that  I  made  of  two 
specimens  of  Loess  from  Richardson  County  also  contained  slight- 
ly more  alumina  than  the  above. 

For  the  purpose  of  comparison,  I  here  reproduce,  from  Hayden's 
report,  Bischoff's  analyses  of  the  Lacustrine  or  Loess  of  the  Rhine: 

NO.  OF  ANALYSIS. 


1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

Silicic  acid  

58.97 

79.53 

78.61 

62.43 

81.04 

Alumina 

9.97 

1345? 

7.51 

9.75 

Peroxide  of  iron  .... 

4.25 

481  ) 

15.26 

5.14 

6.6-7 

Lime  

0  02 

002 

Magnesia  

0.04 

006 

0.09 

0.21 

0.27 

Potash          

0.11 

1  05? 

Soda  

0.84 

1  14) 

3.31 

1.75 

2.27 

Carbonate  of  lime  
Carbonate  of  magnesia  
Loss  by  ignition              .  .     .         

20.16 
4.21 
1  37 

1.89 

11.63 
3.02 
2.31 



268  GEOLOGY. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  analyses  of  BischofF  that  Nos.  3 
and  5,  in  the  quantity  of  silica  and  other  elements  that  are  present, 
come  very  near  the  Loess  of  Nebraska.  The  principal  difference 
is  the  larger  quantity  of  alumina  present  in  the  samples  analyzed  by 
BischofF,  Chemically  the  deposits  of  the  Rhine  Valley,  as  Hayden 
remarks,  are  not  essentially  different  from  those  of  the  Loess  soils 
along  the  Missouri. 

As  would  be  expected,  from  the  elements  which  chemical  analy- 
sis shows  to  be  present  in  these  deposits,  it  forms  one  of  the  best 
soils  in  the  world.  In  fact,  it  can  never  be  exhausted  until  every 
hill  and  valley  of  which  it  is  composed  is  entirely  worn  away. 
Its  drainage,  which  is  the  best  possible,  is  owing  to  the  remarkably 
finely  comminuted  silica  of  which  the  bulk  of  the  deposit  consists. 
Where  the  ground  is  cultivated  the  most  copious  rains  percolate 
through  the  soil,  which,  in  its  lowest  depths,  retains  it  like  a  huge 
sponge.  Even  the  unbroken  prairie  absorbs  much  of  the  heavy 
rains  that  fall.  When  droughts  come  the  moisture  comes  up  from 
below  by  capillary  attraction.  And  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
depth  to  the  solid  rock  ranges  generally  from  five  to  two  hundred 
feet,  it  is  seen  how  readily  the  needs  of  vegetation  are  supplied  in 
the  driest  seasons.  This  is  the  main  reason  why  over  all  the  re- 
gion where  these  deposits  prevail  the  natural  vegetation  and  the 
well-cultivated  crops  are  rarely  dried  out  or  drowned  out.  I  have 
frequently  observed  a  few  showers  to  fall  in  April,  and  then  little 
more  rain  until  June,  when,  as  will  be  considered  farther  on,  there 
is  generally  a  rainy  season  of  from  three  to  eight  weeks'  continuance. 
After  these  June  rains  little  more  would  fall  till  autumn;  and  yet,  if 
there  was  a  deep  and  thorough  cultivation,  the  crops  of  corn,  ce- 
reals and  grass  would  be  most  abundant.  This  condition  represents 
the  dry  seasons.  On  the  other  hand,  the  extremely  wet  seasons 
only  damage  the  crops  over  the  low  bottoms,  subject  to  overflow. 
Owing  to  the  silicious  nature  of  the  soils  they  never  bake  when 
plowed  in  a  wet  condition,  and  a  day  after  heavy  rains  the  plow  can 
again  be  successfully  and  safely  used. 

The  physical  properties  of  the  Loess  deposits  are  also  remarka- 
ble. In  the  interior,  away  from  the  Missouri,  hundreds  of  miles  of 
these  Loess  deposits  are  almost  level  or  gently  rolling.  Not  un- 
frequently  a  region  will  be  reached  where,  for  a  few  miles,  the 
country  is  bluffy  or  hilly,  and  then  as  much  almost  entirely  level, 
with  intermediate  forms.  The  bluffs  that  border  the  flood-plains  of 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  269 

the  Missouri,  the  Lower  Platte,  and  some  other  streams,  are  some- 
times exceedingly  precipitous,  and  sometimes  gently  rounded  off. 
They  often  assume  fantastic  forms,  as  if  carved  by  some  curious 
generations  of  the  past.  But  now  they  retain  their  forms  so  un- 
changed from  year  to  year,  affected  by  neither  rain  nor  frost,  that 
they  must  have  been  molded  into  their  present  outlines  under  cir- 
cumstances of  climate  and  level  very  different  from  that  which  now 
prevails. 

For  all  purposes  of  architecture  this  soil,  even  for  the  most  mas- 
sive structures,  is  perfectly  secure.  I  have  never  known  a  founda- 
tion of  a  large  brick  or  stone  building,  if  commenced  below  the 
winter  frost  line,  to  give  way.  Even  when  the  first  layers  of  brick 
and  stone  are  laid  on  top  of  the  ground  there  is  seldom  such  unev- 
enness  of  settling  as  to  produce  fractures  in  the  walls.  On  no  other 
deposits,  except  the  solid  rock,  are  there  such  excellent  roads. 
From  twelve  to  twenty-four  hours  after  the  heaviest  rains 
the  roads  are  perfectly  dry,  and  often  appear,  sifter  being 
traveled  a  few  days,  like  a  vast  floor  formed  from  cement, 
and  by  the  highest  art  of  man.  The  drawback  to  this  pic- 
ture is  that  sometimes  during  a  drought  the  air  along  the  highways 
on  windy  days  is  filled  with  dust.  And  yet  the  soil  is  very  easily 
worked,  yielding  readily  to  the  spade  or  plow.  Excavation  is  re- 
markably easy,  and  no  pick  or  mattock  is  thought  of  for  such  pur- 
poses. It  might  be  expected  that  such  a  soil  readily  yielded  to  at- 
mospheric influences,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  Wells  in  this  de- 
posit are  frequently  walled  up  only  to  a  point  above  the  water  line; 
and  on  the  remainder  the  spade-marks  will  be  visible  for  years.  In- 
deed, the  traveler  over  Nebraska  will  often  be  surprised  to  see 
spade-marks  and  carved-out  names  and  dates  years  after  they  were 
first  made,  where  ordinary  soils  would  soon  have  fallen  away  into 
a  gentle  slope.  This  peculiarity  of  the  soil  has  often  been  a  God-send 
to  poor  emigrants.  Such  often  cut  out  of  the  hillsides  a  shelter  for 
themselves  and  their  stock.  Many  a  time  when  caught  out  on  the 
roads  in  a  storm,  far  away  from  the  towns,  have  I  found  shelter  in 
a  " dug-out"  with  an  emigrant's  family,  where,  cozy  and  warm, 
there  was  perfect  comfort,  with  little  expenditure  of  fuel  on  the 
coldest  days. 

In  summer  such  shelters  are  much  cooler  than  frame  or  brick 
houses.  I  shall  never  forget  one  occasion  in  1866  when,  bewildered 
by  a  blinding  snow-storm,  I  came  to  a  "dug-out,"  and  although  all 


270  GEOLOGY. 

the  chambers  were  carved  out  of  the  soil  (Loess),  they  were  per- 
fectly dry.  The  walls  were  hidden  and  ornamented  with  Harpers' 
Weekly,  with  the  emanations  of  Nast's  genius  made  to  occupy  the 
conspicuous  corners.  -My  hostess,  whose  cultivated  intellect  and 
kindly  nature  made  even  this  abode  a  charming  resort,  was  a  grad- 
uate of  an  eastern  seminary.  Her  husband,  after  a  failure  in  busi- 
ness in  New  York,  came  here  to  commence  life  anew  on  a  home- 
stead, by  stock  raising.  To  get  a  start  with  young  stock  no  money 
could  be  spared  for  a  house.  Eight  years  afterward  I  found  the 
same  family  financially  independent,  and  living  in  a  beautiful  brick 
mansion,  but  I  doubt  whether  they  had  any  more  substantial  hap- 
piness than  when  they  were  looking  for  better  days  in  the  old  tem- 
porary "dug-out."  Thousands  who  are  still  coming  into  this  land 
of  promise  are  still  doing  the  same  thing.  So  firmly  does  the  ma- 
terial of  this  deposit  stand,  that  after  excavations  are  made  in  it, 
underground  passages  without  number  could  be  constructed  with- 
out meeting  any  obstacles,  and  without  requiring  any  protection 
from  walls  and  timber. 

CAUSE  OF  THESE  PECULIARITIES. 

These  peculiarities  of  the  Loess  deposits  are  chiefly  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  carbonate  of  lime  has  entered  into  slight  chemical 
combination  wTith  the  finely  comminuted  silica.  There  is  always  more 
or  less  carbonic  acid  in  the  atmosphere  which  is  brought  down  by 
the  rains,  and  this  dissolves  the  carbonate  of  lime,  which  then  read- 
ily unites  with  silica,  but  only  to  a  slight  extent,  and  not  enough  to 
destroy  its  porosity.  Though  much  of  the  silica  is  microscopically 
minute,  and  is  water-worn  or  rounded,  it  still  enters  into  this  slight 
union  with  the  carbonate  of  lime.  Had  there  been  more  lime  and 
iron  in  this  deposit,  and  had  it  been  subjected  to  a  greater  and 
longer  pressure  from  superincumbent  waters,  instead  of  a  slightly 
chemically  compacted  soil,  it  would  have  resulted  in  a  sandstone 
formation,  incapable  of  cultivation.  There  is  not  enough  of  clayey 
matter  present  to  prevent  the  water  from  percolating  through  it  as 
perfectly  as  through  sand,  though  a  great  deal  more  slowly.  This 
same  peculiarity  causes  ponds  and  stagnant  water  to  be  rare  within 
the  limits  of  this  deposit.  Where  they  do  exist  in  slight  depres- 
sions on  the  level  plain,  it  is  found  that  an  exceptionally  large 
quantity  of  clayey  matter  has  been  accumulated  in  the  soil  on  the 
bottom.  In  Clay,  Fillmore,  York,  and  a  few  other  counties,  there 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  271 

are  considerable  numbers  of  ponds,  covering  from  a  few  acres  to 
half  a  section  of  land,  grown  up  around  the  border  with  reeds  and 
coarse  grasses  and  sedges,  and  where  the  water  is  deeper,  with  ar- 
row-leaves, pond-lillies,  and  other  water-plants.  In  every  instance 
where  I  had  opportunity  to  examine  them,  there  was  a  thin  bed  of 
clayey  matter  mixed  with  organic  materials,  from  a  few  inches  to 
a  foot  or  more  in  thickness,  lying  on  the  bottom,  and  on  top  of  the 
Loess  deposit.  This  clayey  matter  was  probably  deposited  there 
before  the  waters  finally  retired  from  the  old  lake-bed  in  which 
this  soil  originated.  In  the  stiller  portions  of  the  lake,  or  in  eddies, 
about  the  time  it  commenced  to  be  dry  land,  when  portions  were 
already  cut  off  from  the  main  lake  except  in  flood-time,  in  these 
isolated  pools  all  the  clay  in  solution  would  be  precipitated  to  the 
bottom,  before  the  next  annual  rise  of  the  waters.  This  I  propose 
as  a  provisional  explanation  of  this  phenomenon. 

FRUIT   ON  THE  LOESS  DEPOSITS. 

In  these  Loess  deposits  are  found  the  explanation  of  the  ease 
with  which  nature  produces  the  wild  fruits  in  Nebraska.  So  dense 
are  the  thickets  of  wild  grapes  and  plums  along  some  of  the  bot- 
toms and  bluffs  of  the  larger  streams  that  it  is  difficult  to  penetrate 
them.  Over  twenty  varieties  of  wild  plums  have  *been  observed, 
all  of  them  having  originated .  either  from  Prunus  Americana,  P. 
chickasa,  or  P.  pumillu.  Only  two  species  of  grapes  are  clearly 
outlined,  namely,  Vitis  cesfivalis  and  V.  cardifolia,  but  these  have 
such  interminable  variations  that  the  botanist  becomes  discouraged 
in  attempting  to  draw  the  lines  between  them,  and  to  define  the 
ranee  and  limit  of  the  varieties.  The  same  remark  could  be 

O 

made  of  the  strawberries.  Raspberries  and  blackberries  abound  in 
many  parts  of  the  State.  The  buffalo-berry  (Shepherdia  Canadensis] 
is  common  on  many  of  the  Missouri  and  Republican  River  bot- 
toms. Many  other  wild  fruits  abound,  and  grow  with  wonderful 
luxuriance  wherever  timber  protects  them  and  prairie  fires  are  re- 
pressed. As  would  be  expected,  these  deposits  are  also  a  paradise 
for  the  cultivated  fruits  of  the  temperate  zones.  They  luxuriate  in 
a  soil  like  this,  which  has  perfect  natural  drainage,  and  is  composed 
of  such  materials.  No  other.region,  except  the  valleys  of  the  Nile 
and  of  the  Rhine,  can,  in  these  respects,  compare  with  the  Loess 
deposits  of  Nebraska.  The  Loess  of  the  Rhine  supplies  Europe 
with  some  of  its  finest  wines  and  grapes.  The  success  that  has  al- 


272  GEOLOGY. 

ready  attended  the  cultivation  of  the  grape  in  southeastern  Ne- 
braska, at  least,  demonstrates  that  the  State  may  likewise  become 
remarkable  in  this  respect.  For  the  cultivation  of  the  apple,  its 
superiority  is  demonstrated.  Nebraska,  although  so  young  in 
years,  has  taken  the  premium  over  all  the  other  States  in  the  pom- 
ological  fairs  at  Richmond  and  Boston.  Of  course  there  are  ob- 
stacles here  in  the  way  of  the  pomologist  as  well  as  in  other  fa- 
vored regions.  But  what  is  claimed  is,  that  the  soil,  as  analysis  and 
experience  prove,  is  eminently  adapted  to  grape,  and  especially  to 
apple  tree  culture.  The  chief  obstacle  is  particularly  met  with  in 
the  interior  of  the  State,  and  results  from  the  climate.  In  mid- 
summer occasional  hot,  dry  winds  blow  from  the  southwest. 
These  winds,  where  the  trunks  of  apple  trees  are  exposed,  blister 
and  scald  the  bark  on  the  south  side,  and  frequently  kill  the  trees* 
It  is  found,  however,  that  when  young  trees  are  caused  to  throw 
out  limbs  near  to  the  ground,  they  are  completely  protected,  or  if 
that  has  not  been  done,  a  shingle  tacked  on  that  side  of  the  tree 
prevents  all  damage  from  that  source.  Many  fruit-growers  also 
claim  that  cottonwood  and  box-elder  groves  on  the  south  side  of 
orchards  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  protect  them  from  these  storms. 
I  mention  this  frere  to  put  any  new  settler,  who  may  read  this  and 
who  has  not  learned  the  experience  of  fruit-growers  in  this  State,  on 
his  guard. 

SCENERY  OF  THE  LOESS  DEPOSITS. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  "  no  sharp  lines  of  demarcation  sepa- 
rate the  kinds  of  scenery  that  produce  the  emotions  of  the  grand 
and  the  beautiful."  This  is  eminently  true  of  some  of  the  scenery 
produced  by  the  Loess  formations.  Occasionally  an  elevation  is 
encountered  from  whose  summit  there  are  such  magnificent  views 
of  river,  bottom,  forest,  and  winding  bluffs  as  to  produce  all  the 
emotions  of  the  sublime.  One  such  elevation  is  Pilgrim  Hill,  in 
Dakota  County,  on  the  farm  of  Hon.  J.  Warner.  From  this  hill 
the  Missouri  bottom,  with  its  marvelous,  weird-like  river,  can  be 
seen  for  twenty  miles.  Dakota  City  and  Sioux  City,  the  latter  dis- 
tant sixteen  miles,  are  plainly  visible.  If  it  happens  to  be  Indian 
summer,  the  tints  of  the  woods  vie  with  the  hazy  splendor  of  the 
sky  to  give  to  the  far  outstretched  landscape  more  than  an  oriental 
splendor.  I  have  looked  with  amazement  at  some  of  the  wonder- 
ful canyons  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  nothing  there  more  com- 
pletely filled  me  and  satisfied  the  craving  for  the  grand  in  nature 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  273 

than  did  this  view  from  Pilgrim  Hill.  Another  view,  equally  ma- 
jestic is  on  the  Missouri,  back  of  lona,  in  Dixon  County.  My  at- 
tention was  directed  to  it  by  John  HiH,  Esq.,  who  took  me  to  a 
high  point  for  observing  the  river,  which  can  here  be  seen  for  a 
great  distance.  The  alternations  of  lofty  bluff  and  bottom,  wood- 
land and  prairie,  give  a  picture  worthy  the  pencil  of  the  most  gifted1 
artist,  and  of  all  who  love  the  grand  and  picturesque  in  nature.  It 
is  true  that  such  scenes  are  rare,  but  then  there  are  many  landscapes' 
which,  if  not  grand,  are  still  of  wonderful  beauty.  This  is  the  case 
along  most  of  the  bluffs  of  the  principal  rivers.  In  Northern  Ne~ 
braska  these  bluffs  often  reach  two  hundred  or  more  feet  in  height,, 
and  this  perhaps  gives  this  portion  of  the  State  the  most  varied 
scenery.  At  some  points  these  bluffs  are  rounded  off  and  melt 
beyond  into  a  gently-rolling  plain.  But  they  constantly  vary,  and 
following  them  you  come  now  into  a  beautiful  cove,  now  to  a  curi- 
ous headland,  then  to  terraces,  and,  however  far  you  travel,  you  in 
vain  look  for  a  picture  like  the  one  just  passed.  Numerous  rounded 
tips,  with  strangely  precipitous  sides,  are  seen  in  every  hour's 
travel,  and  these,  as  they  form  bold  curves,  rampart  like,  stretch 
away  into  the  distance  and  form  images  of  the  most  impressive 
beauty.  Indeed,  the  bluffs  of  the  Loess  deposits  are  unique,  and 
Ruskin  cannot  exhaust  the  subject  of  the  beautiful  until  he  sees 
and  studies  the  hills  of  Nebraska. 

Origin  of  the  Loess  Deposits. — Richthoferfs  Theory. — In  a  paper  on 
"  The  Superficial  Deposits  of  Nebraska,"  which  was  published  in 
the  Hay  den  Reports  for  1874,  I  attributed  the  formation  of  the 
Loess  deposits  to  subaqueous  agency.  Since  then  renewed  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  the  Loess,  which  has  been  stimulated  by 
Baron  Von  Richthofen's  great  work  on  the  Loess  of  northeastern 
China.  He  took  the  ground,  as  a  few  American  geologists  had 
previously  suggested,  that  the  Loess  was  a  subaerial  formation.* 
So  cogent  is  his  reasoning  that  some  American  geologists,  who  I 
am  satisfied  had  never  thoroughly  studied  the  American  Loess  in 
place,  have  been  converted  to  his  views.  An  examination,  there- 
fore, of  this  reference  here,  is  not  out  of  place,  especially  as  this 
theory,  if  true,  would  have  the  most  important  application  to  the 
climatology  of  the  plains. 

Richthofen's  theory   is  that   the  Loess  of  China,  and  the  Loess 
everywhere,  was  formed   on  dessicated  regions  covered  by  scanty 
grasses,  by  the  action  through  countless  centuries  of  strong  winds. 
18 


274  GEOLOGY. 

The  exigencies  of  his  theory  require  that  mountain  chains  should 
cut  off  the  moisture  from  a  contiguous,  elevated,  undrained  region. 
The  dessication  of  such  a  region  exposed  to  dry,  cold  winds  fur- 
nished the  dust-like  materials  that  filled  up  lower  lands  and  became 
the  Loess  of  this  period.  Prof.  P^mp^lly,  contrary  to  his  former 
views,  now  advocates  this  theory.*  Clarence  King  now  also  lends  to 
this  theory  a  qualified  assent.  These  eminent  men  would  account 
for  the  Loess  of  Nebraska  in  the  same  way. 

I  admit  that  some  facts  concerning  the  Loess  of  Nebraska  could 
be  explained  by  this  theory.  One  of  these  is  the  wind  structure  of 
some  of  the  Loess  hills  on  the  Logan,  Elkhorn,  Loup  and  Repub- 
lican rivers.'  This  structure  is  often  found  there  as  distinct  as 
among  the  shifting  sands  of  our  sea  coast.  In  every  case,  however, 
where  I  examined  this  structure  in  the  Loess  I  found  it  to  be  su- 
perficial. Out  of  nineteen  such  hills  none  of  them  possessed  this 
structure  over  ten  feet  deep,  and  few  of  them  over  five  feet,  and 
many  of  them  only  from  two  to  three  feet  deep.  In  the  deep  can- 
yons where  the  Loess  is  exposed  vertically  from  fifteen  to  one 
hundred  feet  I  have  never  found  this  wind  structure  over  ten  feet 
deep.  It  occurs,  therefore,  only  in  the  Loess  that  has  been  recently 
modified  by  the  winds,  and  long  after  it  was  first  deposited. 

Another  fact  which  the  theory  of  a  subaerial  origin  would  ex- 
plain, is  that  the  terraces  in  the  valley  of  Oak  Creek  and  Little 
Salt  are  formed  of  Loess,  but  the  high  plateau  or  divides  between 
these  streams  are  Drift.  There  are  other  similar  cases  in  the  State, 
where  the  Loess  is  comparatively  thin.  It  ,is  natural  to  suppose 
that  if  the  Loess  had  been  a  subaqueous  deposit,  it  would  have 
been  laid  clown  on  the  uplands  as  well  as  in  the  valleys — if  formed 
suba3rially,  the  valleys  would  have  been  filled  up  first.  In  other 
sections,  however,  the  Loess  covers  with  equal  thickness  uplands 
•and  the  flanks  of  the  valleys.  West  of  Crete,  as  far  as  the  Loess 
extends,  it  was  probably  laid  down  alike  on  hills  and  valleys,  with 
only  a  few  unimportant  exceptions.  In  Dakota  and  Dixon  coun- 
ties, in  southern  Cedar,  and  many  counties  west  of  these,  the  Loess 
frequently  is  as  thick  on  the  high  hills  as  in  the  terraced  valleys. 
The  isolated  uplands  now  devoid  of  Loess,  on  the  theory  of  its 
subaqueous  origin,  must  have  been  islands  in  this  old  Nebraska 
lake,  or  else  it  has  been  removed  by  erosion.  There  are  some  facts 
that  point  to  the  former  theory — the  island  origin  of  these  spots  de- 


*See  American  Journal  of  Scijnce  and  Arts  for  January,  1879. 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  275 

void  of  Loess — as  the  correct  explanation.  One  of  these  is  that  in 
such  sections  the  Loess  that  horders  on  to  an  exposed  Drift  region 
is  exceptionally  full  of  the  -remains  of  elephants  and  mastodons.  As 
if  these  animals  had  come  down  to  the  water  to  drink  and  to  wal- 
low, and  had  become  mired  and  perished.  This  is  proposed,  how- 
ever, as  only  a  provisional  explanation. 

Another  observation  depended  on  by  Richthofen  to  substantiate 
his  theory  is  the  depth  at  which  root  holes  are  found  in  the  Loess. 
He  supposes  these  to  occur  at  such  a  depth  that  the  grasses  that  oc- 
cur at  the  surface  could  not  possibly  have  penetrated  the  Loess  to 
such  a  depth,  and  that  therefore  they  must  have  flourished  when 
this  deposit  was  thinner  than  at  present.  Subserial  filling  up  would 
account  for  their  presence,  as  they  would  be  growing  during  the 
Avhole  period  of  the  accumulation  of  the  Loess.  To  this  it  may  be 
replied  that  roots  descend  from  the  surface  through  the  Loess  to  an 
enormous  depth.  In  1868  I  measured  the  depth  of  a  root  of  the 
Buffalo  berry  (Shepherdia  argophylla),  at  the  edge  of  the  St.  John's  j 
timber,  in  Dakota  County,  and  found  it  to  extend  fifty-five  feet  be-  j 
low  the  surface  in  undisturbed  Loess.  Near  the  same  point,  I 
traced  another  root  from  near  the  bottom  of  the  Loess  in  a  slide  for 
thirty-nine  feet  to  a  stock  of  grass  {Andropogon  furcatus}.  West 
of  old  Fort  Calhoun  the  roots  of  the  common  blue-grass  have  pen- 
etrated the  Loess  to  a  depth  of  from  five  to  fifteen  feet.  A  sumach 
(Rhits glabrd]  near  by  was  found  to  send  down  roots  to  a  depth  of 
fifteen  feet.  South  of  Plum  Creek,  in  the  Loess  canyons,  roots  of 
the  lead  plant  {Amorpha  canescens},  can  be  traced  in  the  Loess  for 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet.  Prof.  J.  E.  Todd  has  also  observed  in  the 
Iowa  Loess  the  roots  of  other  grasses  to  descend  to  depths  of  from  ' 
six  to  twenty-five  feet.*  Moreover,  these  root  marks  inosculate  in 
every  direction,  and  become  fewer  the  deeper  we  descend,  with 
some  notable  exceptions.  There  are  horizons  in  the  Republican 
Valley,  far  below  the  present  surface,  where  the  old  root  marks  oc- 
cur in  exceptional  numbers.  As  these  fossil  root  marks  are  now 
more  or  less  completely  filled  with  either  lime  carbonate  or  oxides 
of  iron,,  they  are  readily  distinguished.  To  understand  the  probable 
reason  for  these  phenomena,  on  the  theory  of  the  subaqueous  origin 
of  the  Loess,  the  following  sections  are  given.  The  first  is  taken 
from  along  the  sides  of  a  canyon  leading  into  a  tributary  of  the 


*Procee<lings  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,    Vol.    '27,    St. 
I.OIUS  Meeting,  August.  1878. 


276  GEOLOGY. 

Republican,  in  Township  27  West,  i  and  2  North.     It  is  exposed 
for  many  iiJles: 

1 .  Loess ..*...  4  feet, 

2.  Black  soil 2     " 

3.  Loess  extending  down  to  upper  terrace 4     " 

4.  Black  soil 1>£" 

5.  Loess 5     " 

6.  Black  soil : 1)£" 

7.  Stratified  loess , 15     " 

Another  section,  taken  two  miles  above  the  Republican  Forks  in 
Dundy  County,  from  the  sides  of  a  small  tributary,  showed  the 
following  characters : 

1.  Black  soil 1  foot, 

2.  Loess .' .  5  feet. 

3.  Black  soil 1  foot. 

4.  Loess 15  feet. 

The  following  section  was  taken  near  the  Arickeree,  about  six 

miles  east  of  the  west  line  of  the  State.     This  section  can  be  dupli- 
cated in  any  of  the  numerous  small  canyons  in  this  region : 

1 .  Black  soil 1^  feet, 

2.  Loess 15        " 

3.  Black  soil 2        " 

4.  Loess  as  far  as  exposed 15        " 

Now,  in  all  these  sections  the  Loess  next  to  the  Black  soils  from 
below  is  specially  full  of  root  marks — the  Loess  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sections  as  well  as  at  the  top.  This  indicates  that  during  the 
progress  of  the  Loess  period  there  were  many  changes  of  level,, 
during  some  of  which  these  regions  became  level  surfaces,  similar 
to  the  present,  and  covered  with  a  rich  black  soil.  These  old  land 
*  surfaces  became  covered  with  grasses,  whose  roots  penetrated  far 
into  the  underlying  Loess.  Changes  of  level,  and  lake  conditions 
came  on  again,  and  deposited  more  Loess,  and  these  changes,  con- 
tinuing through  interminable  centuries,  have  gone  on  till  the  present, 
To  show  that  the  Republican  region  was  not  exceptionable  in  this 
respect,  the  following  section  is  given,  from  the  canyon  region 
south  of  Plum  Creek,  on  the  road  to  Arrapahoe.  It  is  near  the 
divide  between  the  Platte  and  Republican: 

1.  Black  soil 3  feet. 

2.  Loess 40     " 

3.  Black  soil 2     " 

4.  Loess 15    " 

5.  Clay  with  calcareous  concretions 4     " 

6.  Reddish  sandy  deposit,  with  a  few  calcareous  concretions,  only 

two  feet  exposed 2     " 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  277 

Here,  as  in  the  Republican  Valley,  the  Loess  at  the  bottom  of 
the  section  (No.  4)  has  a  great  many  more  root  marks  than  the 
lower  part  of  the  Loess  above  (or  No.  2).  The  same  explanation  is 
applicable  here  as  in  the  former  case,  namely,  that  these  fossil  black 
soils  represent  conditions  of  land  surface  like  the  present,  when  the 
vegetation  of  the  time  penetrated  from  them  into  the  underlying 
Loess.  Now  it  is  probable  that  these  black  soils  may  have  been 
removed  in  some  districts  by  erosion  at  the  beginning  of  the  re- 
newed lake  conditions,  and  left  no  sign  of  their  former  presence, 
except  the  fossil  root  marks  below.  However  abundant,  therefore, 
at  some  horizons  these  root  marks  may  be  in  the  Loess  of  this 
country  or  Asia,  its  origin  can  easily  be  explained  on  the  theory  of 
its  sub  iqueous  origin.  Again,  it  is  questionable  whether  these  black 
soils  filled  with  organic  matter  are  ever  formed  except  in  the  presence 
of  water.  The  most  probable  explanation  is  that  the  black  soils  on 
top  of  the  Loess  have  been  formed  when  this  lake  gradually  ap- 
proached dessication  or  a  drained  condition.  When  it  approxi- 
mated the  condition  of  a  peat  bog  the  organic  matter  was  retained 
•(as  a  large  portion  is  always  retained  when  it  decays  under  water), 
and  mingling  with  the  Loess  bottom  became  a  black  soil  when  the 
drainage  was  completed.  This  semi-boggy  condition  endured  for 
ages — long  enough  at  least  to  form  a  black  soil  from  three  inches 
to  ten  feet  thick.  In  accordance  with  this  view  the  highest  knolls 
where  the  land  is  rolling  have  in  general  the  thinnest  covering  of 
black  soil.  This  process  is  still  going  on  in  the  bogs  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  many  of  its  tributaries  in  the  Loess  region.  If  the  Loess 
was  formed,  as  I  maintain,  by  subaqueous  agency,  then  it  is  appar- 
ent that  this  old  lake  became  dry  land  gradually.  It  surrendered 
its  bottom  little  by  little,  until  modern  conditions  prevailed. 

Another  fact  depended  on  by  Richthofen  to  substantiate  his 
theory,  is  the  difference  in  level  between  various  points  of  con- 
nected Loess  regions.  This  objection  is  based  on  the  assumption 
that  the  Loess  districts  lie  at  the  same  level  now  as  during  the 

O 

•deposition  of  this  peculiar  sediment.  No  geologist,  however, 
doubts  that  during  Glacial  times  the  continent  towards  the  north 
laid  relatively  far  above  its  present  level.  It  is  also  conceded  that 
during  the  Champlain  Epoch  the  level  of  a  large  part  of  North 
America  was  below  w'hat  it  is  now.  It  is  admitted  that,  partly 
owing  to  this  depression,  and  partly  to  melting  ice  sheets,  temperate 
latitudes  were  flooded.  The  re-elevation  of  the  land  drained  it. 


278  GEOLOGY. 

Probably  the  huge  terminal  morraines  helped  to  confine  the  water 
and  produce  the  great  lakes  of  the  time.  Now  it  can  easily  be 
seen  that  a  certain  stage  would  be  reached  in  the  re-elevation  of  the 
land  when  the  surface  conditions  would  be  precisely  such  as  is 
claimed  for  the  great  lakes  of  the  Loess  period.  Confirmatory  of 
this  induction  is  the  fact  that  the  Loess  valleys  running  proxi- 
mately  east  and  west  through  Nebraska  have  almost  universally 
long  gentle  slopes  on  the  north  side  and  steeper  bluffs  on  the  south. 
As  the  continent  rose  towards  the  north  slowly  and  gently,  the 
streams  retired  gradually  towards  the  south  side  of  the  valleys  and 
produced  this  peculiar  configuration.  It  is  true  that  here  the  Loess- 
in  southeast  Nebraska  is  over  3,000  feet  below  the  highest  point  on- 
the  west  line  of  the  State.  At  other  points  the  difference  of  level 
in  the  Loess  of  Nebraska  is  over  3,500  feet.  But  this  is  more 
than  paralleled  by  the  remnants  of  the  old  Pliocene  lake  of  the 
plains,  where  the  present  difference  of  level  between  its  eastern  and 
western  shore  is  over  7,000  feet.  No  geologist,  however,  doubts- 
that  in  Pliocene  times  it  occupied  about  the  same  plane.  The 
change  in  level,  therefore,  on  the  theory  that  the  Loess  was  formed 
in  a  lake,  since  the  close  of  that  period,  is  only  about  half  as  great 
as  that  which  occurred  since  the  close  of  Pliocene  times. 

The  assumed  fact  that  fresh  water  shells  are  absent  and  land 
shells  abundant  in  the  Loess,  is  also  depended  on  by  Richthofen  to- 
prove  his  theory.  However  it  may  be  in  China,  here  fresh  water 
shells  are  quite  abundant  at  some  horizons.  The  species  of  land 
and  fresh  water  shells  that  I  have  thus  far  identified  from  the  Loess 
of  Nebraska  are  appended  to  the  end  of  this  chapter.  It  will  be 
seen  that  large  numbers  of  them  are  fresh  water  shells.  They  are 
not  found  merely  near  existing  fresh  water  streams,  as  has  been 
suggested — they  are  equally  abundant  on  the  divides  wherever 
there  are  well  shafts  to  bring  them  to  light.  It  is  an  interesting 
analogous  fact  that  in  the  eddies  and  in  the  sand  bars  and  silted  up 
hollows  of  the  Missouri,  at  the  present  time,  about  the  same  rela- 
tive proportion  of  land  and  fresh  water  shells  are  found  as  in  the 
Loess.  For  example,  four  miles  below  Dakota  City,  on  a  sand 
bar,  I  have  on  several  occasions  examined  the  exposed  silt  after 
flood  time  for  shells.  In  1871  I  here  obtained  of  existing  kinds 
brought  down  by  the  river,  thirty-five  species  of  land  and  twenty 
of  fresh  water  shells.  Three  years  afterwards,  at  the  same  point,  I 
obtained  five  less  of  the  former  and  six  of  the  latter.  The  Mis- 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  279 

souri,  in  its  upper  portion  at  least,  is  not  rich  in  fresh  water  shells, 
neither  its  bottoms  nor  waters  being  highly  adapted  to  them.  This 
evidently  also  was  the  case  with  the  Loess  lake  of  this  region, 
which  was  fed,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  by  the  Missouri  and  the 
Platte.  I  do  not  adopt  the  views  suggested  by  Hilgard  that  the 
waters  of  this  lake,  probably  from  its  alkaline  character  and  the 
constitution  of  the  Loess  itself,  destroyed  the  more  fragile  shells.* 
As  in  the  Missouri  at  the  present  time,  there  were  comparatively 
few  shells  in  this  old  lake.  Even  a  large  part  of  the  fresh  water  shells 
now  found  in  the  Loess  were  probably  carried  into  this  lake  from 
its  smaller  tributaries. 

Richthofen  also  claims  that  the  Loess  exhibits  no  marks  of  strat- 
ification, and  that  therefore  it  could  not  have  been  formed  by  sub- 
aqueous agencies.  In  my  earlier  studies  of  the  Loess  it  also  ap- 
peared to  me  to  be  without  stratification.  Since  my  earlier  pub- 
lished papers  on  this  subject,  I  have  found  the  most  convincing  evi- 
dence that  the  Loess,  at  least  in  some  sections,  is  as  distinctly  strati- 
fied as  the  modified  Drift  beneath  it.  The  following  section  is 
given  from  the  new  railroad  cut  at  Plattsmouth,  to  show  the  hori- 
zon of  stratification.  The  section  is  taken  from  the  east  end  of  the 
cut: 

1.  Black  soil 2  feet. 

2.  Yellow  Loess 10     " 

3.  Typical  Loess,  finely  laminated 30     " 

4.  Reddish  brown,  impure  Loess,  mingled  with  silicious  streaks 15     " 

5.  Small    boulders,   gravel  and  lime  concretions.      Small  boulders, 

sometimes  covered  with  lime.     Some  clay.     Colors,  various. 
Exposed 6     " 

In  this  section  No.  3  is  clearly  stratified.  A  similar  laminated 
appearance  is  seen  in  some  of  the  Loess  at  the  west  or  Plattsmouth 
end  of  this  cut.  In  the  Republican  Valley  the  lower  sections  of 
the  Loess  are  now  found  to  be  distinctly  laminated  and  occasionally 
stratified.  Here  the  strata  of  Loess  are  sometimes  separated  by 
strata  of  sand,  and  even,  sometimes,  on  the  upper  Republican, 
by  layers  of  sand  and  gravel.  Similar  sections  can  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  canyons  through  the  Loess  southwest  of  Plum  Creek.  At 
Plattsmouth,  and  on  the  Lower  Loup,  beds  of  light  are  often  sepa- 
rated by  beds  of  darker  colored  Loess.  Along  the  bluffs  of  the 
Republican  Valley  this  condition  can  be  observed  for  many  miles 
in  a  stretch.  Conspicuous  examples  can  be  seen  going  west  from 

*  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  for  April,  1879. 


280  GEOLOGY. 

Orleans.  I  find,  also,  that  almost  any  section  of  our  Loess,  when 
saturated  with  moisture  and  then  frozen  and  shaved  smooth  with  a 
knife,  will  show  fine  lines  of  stratification  when  looked  at  through 
a  large  magnifying  glass 

A  fact  often  overlooked  is  the  transition  character  of  some  beds 
of  sand,  as  they  shade  into  the  Loess.  As  beds  of  Loess  and  strat- 
ified sands  at  the  bottom  of  Loess  sections  often  alternate,  und  even 
sometimes  with  strata  of  clay,  it  is  not  easily  conceivable  how 
subaqueous  agency  should  have  formed  the  one  and  Aeolian  agency 
the  other. 

The  preceding  discussion  disposes  of  the  most  important  objec- 
tions to  the  theory  of  the  subaqueous  origin  of  the  Loess.  The 
theory  of  Richthofen  is  not  tenable,  in  my  judgment,  for  the  Ne- 
braska Loess.  I  have  no  doubt  that  future  investigation  will  show 
it  to  be  untenable  for  China.  We  are  now  ready  to  state  connect- 
edly the  history  of  the  origin  of  the  Loess. 

True  Origin  of  the  Loess  Deposits. — Geological  events  have  already 
been  traced  to  the  beginning  of  the  Loess  period.  According  to 
Newberry  the  whole  of  the  Old  Forest  Bed  area  now  less  than 
i, 100  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake  Erie  was  flooded  by  the  changes 
of  level  and  thawing  of  retreating  glaciers  that  followed  its  disap- 
pearance. In  Nebraska  during  this  time  icebergs  again  floated 
over  the  waters.  The  farther  retreat  of  the  glaciers  and  the  eleva- 
tion of  eastern  Iowa  reduced  the  area  of  this  great  lake.  What 
had  been  a  great  interior  sea  of  turbulent  waters  had  now  become 
a  system  of  placid  lakes  that  extended  from  Nebraska  and  western 
Iowa  at  intervals  to  the  Gulf.  The  Missouri  drained  through 
them  all  along  its  length.  The  Missouri,  and  sometimes  the 
Platte,  have  been  amongst  the  muddiest  streams  in  the  world.  If 
we  go  up  the  Missouri  to  its  source,  and  carefully  examine  the 
character  of  the  deposits  through  which  it  passes,  we  cannot  be 
surprised  at  its  character.  These  deposits  being  of  Tertiary  and 
Cretaceous  ages,  are  exceedingly  friable  and  easy  of  disintegration. 
The  Tertiary,  and  especially  the  Pliocene  Tertiary,  is  largely  silic- 
ious,  and  the  Cretaceous  is  both  silicious  and  calcareous.  In  fact, 
in  many  places  the  Missouri  and  its  tributaries  flow  directly  over 
and  through  the  chalk-beds  of  the  Cretaceous  deposits.  From 
these  beds  the  Loess  deposits  no  doubt  received  their  per  cent  of 
the  phosphates  and  carbonates  of  lime.  Flowing  through  such  de- 
posits for  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  the  Missouri  and  its  tribu- 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  281 

taries  have  been  gathering  for  vast  ages  that  peculiar  mud  which 
filled  up  their  ancient  lakes,  and  which  distinguishes  them  even  yet 
from  most  other  streams.  Being  anciently,  as  now,  very 
rapid  streams,  as  soon  as  they  emptied  themselves  into  these 
great  lakes,  and  their  waters  hecame  quiet,  the  sediment  held 
suspended  was  dropped  to  the  bottom.  While  this  process  was 
going  on  in  the  earlier  portion  of  this  age,  the  last  of  the  glaciers 
had  probably  not  retreated  farther  than  first  a  little  beyond  the 
"boundary  of  the  Loess  lake,  and  then  gradually  to  the  headwaters 
of  the  Platte,  the  Missouri  and  the  Yellowstone.  The  tremendous 
force  of  these  mighty  rivers  was,  for  a  while  at  least,  aided  by  the 
erosive  action  of  ice,  and  therefore  must  have  been  vastly  more 
rapid  at  times  than  anything  of  the  kind  with  which  we  are  now 
acquainted.  The  following  analysis  of  Missouri  River  sediment 
taken  at  high  sta^e  will  show,  by  comparison  with  the  analyses  of 
the  Loess  deposits,  what  a  remarkable  resemblance  there  is  even 
yet  between  the  two  substances. 

In  one  hundred  parts  of  Missouri  River  sediment,  there  are  of — 

Insoluble  (silicious)  matter 82.01 

Ferric  oxide 3.10 

Alumina  1 . 70 

Limo,  carbonate f> .  50 

Lime,  phosphate 3 . 00 

Magnesia,  carbonate 1.10 

Potassa 50 

Soda 22 

Organic  matter : 1.20 

Loss  in  analysis 07 

100.00 

Two  other  analyse?  which  I  mads,  the  one  from  sediment  at 
high  water  and  the  other  at  low  water,  differ  somewhat  from  this, 
but  in  essential  pirticulars  are  the  same.  This  identity  of  chemical 
combinations  also  points  to  the  remarkable  sameness  of  conditions 
that  have  existed  for  long  periods  in  the  Upper  Missouri  and  Yel- 
lowstone regions. 

After  these  great  lakes  were  filled  with  sediment  (Missouri  mud), 
they  existed  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  as  already  remarked,  as 
marshes  or  bogs.  Isolated  portions  would  first  become  dry  land, 
and  as  soon  as  they  appeared  above  the  water  they  were  no  doubt, 
covered  with  vegetation,  which,  decaying  from  year  to  year,  and 
uniting  under  water  or  at  the  water's  edge  with  the  deposits  at  the 


282  GEOLOGY. 

bottom,  formed  that  black  soil  so  characteristic  of  Nebraska  prai- 
ries. For  it  is  well  known  that  when  vegetable  matter  decays  in 
water  or  a  wet  situation  its  carbon  is  retained.  In  dry  situations  it 
passes  into  the  atmosphere  as  carbonic-acid  gas.  After  the  first  low 
islands  appeared  in  this  old  lake,  they  gradually  increased  from 
year  to  year  in  size  and  numbers. 

The  ponds  and  sloughs,  some  of  which  could  almost  be  called 
lakelets,  still  in  existence,  are  probably  the  last  remains  of  these 
great  lakes.  These  ponds,  where  they  do  not  dry  up  in  midsum- 
mer,.swarm  with  a  few  species  of  fresh  water  shells,  especially  of 
the  Limntzs,  Physces,  and  Pianorbi,  which  to  me  is  strong  proof  of 
this  theory  of  their  origin.  The  rising  of  the  land  continuing,  the 
rivers  began  to  cut  new  channels  through  the  middle  of  the  old 
lake  beds.  This  drained  the  marshes  and  formed  the  bottom  lands, 
as  the  river  beds  of  that  period  covered  the  whole  of  the  present 
flood-plains  from  bluff  to  bluff.  It  was  then  that  the  bluffs  which 
now  bound  these  flood-plains  received  those  touches  from  the  hand 
of  nature  that  gave  them  their  peculiar  steep  and  rounded  appear- 
ance. Newer  and  more  plastic,  because  less  compactly  bound  and 
cemented  together,  the  rains  and  floods  easily  molded  them  into 
those  peculiar  outlines  which  they  have  since  preserved. 

The  Missouri,  during  the  closing  centuries  of  the  Loess  age, 
must  have  been  from  five  to  thirty  miles  in  breadth,  forming  a 
stream  which  for  size  and  majesty  rivaled  the  Amazon.  The 
Platte,  the  Niobrara,  and  the  Republican  covered  their  respective 
flood-plains  in  the  same  way.  In  the  smaller  streams  of  the  State, 
those  that  originated  within  or  near  the  Loess  deposits,  such  as  the 
Elkhorn,  L-mp,  Bow,  Blue,  and  the  Nemahas,  we  see  the  same 
general  form  of  flood-plain  as  on  the  larger  rivers,  and  no  doubt 
their  bottoms  were  also  covered  with  water  during  this  period. 
Hayden,  in  his  first  reports,  his  already  expressed  the  same  opinion 
as  to  the  original  size  of  these  rivers.  Only  a  few  geologists  will 
dissent  from  this  view.  The  gradually  melting  glaciers,  which  had 
been  accumulating  for  so  many  ages  at  the  sources  of  these  great 
rivers,  the  vast  floods  of  water  caused  by  the  necessarily  moist 
climate  and  heavy  rains,  the  present  forms  and  materials  of  the 
river  bottoms,  are  some  of  the  causes  which,  in  my  opinion,  would 
operate  to  produce  such  vast  volumes  of  water. 

The  changes  of  level  were  not  all  upward  during  this  period. 
The  terraces  along  the  Missouri,  Platte  and  Republican  indicate 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  283 

that  there  were  long  periods  when  this  portion  of  the  continent  was 
stationary.  Several  times  the  movement  was  downward.  Along 
the  bluffs  in  the  Republican  Valley,  at  a  depth  varying  from  ten  to- 
thirty  feet  from  the  top,  there  is  a  line  or  streak  of  the  Loess  min- 
gled with  organic  matter.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  old  bed,  where  vegeta- 
tion must  have  flourished  for  a  long  period.  It  can  be  traced  from 
Orleans  upward  in  places  f$r  seventy-five  miles.  It  indicates  that 
after  this  bed  had,  as  dry  land,  sustained  a  growth  of  vegetation,, 
an  oscillation  of  level  depressed  it  sufficiently  to  receive  a  great  ac- 
cumulation of  Loess  materials  on  top  of  it.  Other  oscillations  of 
this  character  occurred  previously  to  and  subsequent  to  this  main 
halt.  These  have  already  been  discussed.  I  have  also  found  traces 
of  this  movement  in  many  other  portions  of  the  State. 

LENGTH  OF  THE  LOESS  AGE. 

The  bases  for  speculation  concerning  the  length  of  the  Loess 
age  are  of  course  uncertain,  yet  an  approximate  estimate  may  per- 
haps be  made  by  comparison  with  the  present  deposits  of  the  Mis- 
souri. The  great  lakes  of  the  Loess  age  extended,  with  a  few  in- 
terruptions, almost  to  the  Gulf,  and  some  of  them  covered  an  area 
of  at  least  75,000  square  miles.  Now,  were  all  the  sediment  which 
is  at  present  brought  down  the  Missouri  spread  over  such  a  vast 
area,  the  thickness  of  the  deposit  would  be  less  than  one  sixteenth 
of  an  inch.  Probably  the  yearly  accumulations  of  sediment  dur- 
ing the  Loess  age  amounted  to  that  much,  owing  to  the  then 
greater  volume  of  the  Missouri  and  the  aids  to  erosion  from  the 
greater  prevalence  of  ice  near  its  sources.  In  many  places  along 
the  Missouri  there  are  small  lakes,  formed  from  the  old  river-bed, 
where  there  has  been  a  cut-off.  Even  where  these  little  lakes  re- 
ceive the  overflow  of  the  river  each  year,  it  often  requires  at  least 
a  century  to  fill  them  up,  even  when  aided  by  the  sands  which  the 
winds  waft  into  them.  I  have  attempted  to  measure  the  sediment 
left  by  the  river  in  these  lakes,  which  are  seldom  half  a  mile  in 
breadth,  and  it  rarely  amounted  to  half  an  inch  in  a  season.  The 
winds  are  a  much  more  efficient  agent  for  filling  up  small,  narrow 
lakes,  but  in  Loess  times,  where  there  were  such  immense  bodies  of 
fresh  water,  their  effects  could  only  have  been  appreciable  along 
the  sandy  shore-lines.  The  highest  bluffs  represent  the  original 
level  of  the  Loess  deposits  before  the  tremendous  denuding  agen- 
cies which  removed  so  much  of  their  materials  had  done  their  work. 


284      /  GEOLOGY. 

Now,  in  places  these  sediments  are  even  yet  200  or  more  feet  in 
thickness,  so  that  it  would  be  safe  to  estimate  the  average  thickness 
of  the  original  deposits  at  100  feet.  A  yearly  increase  of  one- 
sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  would  at  this  rate  have  required 
19,200  years  to  form  these  deposits.  This  I  consider  a  low  estimate 
for  the  length  of  the  Loess  age. 

LIFE  OF  THE  LOESS  AGE. 

At  the  close  of  this  chapter  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  land  and 
fresh-water  shells  that  I  have  found  and  identified  in  the  Loess  de- 
posits. It  will  be  seen  that  the  list  of  land  shells  is  quite  large. 
These,  no  doubt,  were  brought  into  this  old  lake  during  flood- 
time.  I  have  occasionally  found  large  numbers  of  these  shells 
where  drift-wood  had  evidently  lodged  and  decayed.  The  fresh- 
water and  land  shells  are  mainly  such  as  are  still  to  be  found  in  the 
.same  region,  the  exceptions  being  the  prevalence  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  southern  forms  at  one  horizon  of  these  deposits.  As  will  be 
seen,  the  species  belong  to  quite  a  large  number  of  genera. 

Occasionally  I  have  found  the  teeth  and  a  stray  bone  of  fish,  but 
have  not  been  able  to  identify  any  species.  The  remains  of  rab- 
bits, gophers,  otters,  beavers,  squirrels,  deer,  elk,  and  buffalo  are 
frequently  found.  Through  the  entire  extent  of  these  deposits  are 
many  remains  of  mastodons  and  elephants,  whose  last  vigorous  life, 
as  Newberry  remarks,  expired  in  high  northern  latitudes.  Lan- 
caster County  is  specially  rich  in  these  proboscidian  remains.  They 
are  frequently  found  in  this  deposit  in  digging  wells.  In  Lincoln 
they  have  been  found  in  at  least  twenty  wells  that  have  been  dug 
in  and  around  the  city.  This  town  is  near  what  appears  to  have 
been  the  western  shore-line  of  the  Missouri  lake  of  the  period.  Be- 
tween it  and  the  Blue  River  at  Crete,  there  is  a  high  divide 
covered  by  Drift  materials.  These  huge  animals  no  doubt  often 
here  came  down  to  the  shore  to  drink,  and  playing  in  the  water  be- 
came mired  in  the  mud.  One  tusk  found  in  a  well  on  P  street,  east 
of  Twelfth,  must  have  been  at  least  eleven  feet  long  when  entire. 
It  was  so  far  decayed  that  it  fell  to  pieces  on  exposure. 

For  years  I  have  been  closely  watching  for  human  remains  in 
the  Loess  deposits.  Eight  years  ago,  three  miles  east  of  Sioux 
City,  Iowa,  in  a  railroad  cut  I  found  a  small  arrow-head  in  these 
deposits.  I  was  looking  for  mollusks,  and  was  digging  after  them 
with  a  large  knife  when  I  struck  something  hard,  and,  laying  it 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  285 

bare,  to  my  great  surprise  and  joy  found  it  to  be  an  arrow- bead. 
So  far  as  I  knew,  this  was  the  first  mark  that  had  yet  been  dis- 
covered of  the  presence  of  man  during  this  age.  From  that  time  on- 
ward I  have  seized  every  opportunity  of  exploring  these  deposits  for 
human  remains.  The  same  year  I  found  some  flint  chips  in  the 
bluffs  back  of  Jackson,  in  Dakota  County,  but  it  was  not  absolutely 
clear  that  these  were  of  human  origin.  My  next  find  was  about 
two  and  a  half  miles  southeast  of  Omaha,  in  a  railroad  cut,  where 
I  found  a  large  coarse  arrow  or  spear- head.  This  last  was  found 
in  1874.  It  was  found  twenty  feet  below  the  top  of  the  Loess,  and 
at  least  six  inches  from  the  edge  of  the  cut,  so  that  it  could  not  have 
slid  into  that  place.  The  first  found  was  fifteen  feet  below  the  top 
of  the  deposit.  It  appears,  then,  that  some  old  races  lived 
around  the  shores  of  this  old  l;tke,  and  paddled  their  ca- 
noes over  its  waters,  and  accidentally  dropped  their  arrows 
in  its  waters  or  let  them  fly  at  a  passing  water-fowl.  It  is  possible 
also  that  these  arrows  came  into  this  old  lake  by  drift-wood.  I 
once  found  an  arrow  sticking  in  a  log  that  came  down  the  Mis- 
souri, and  if  it  had  continued  on  to  the  Gulf  it  might  have  been  un- 
earthed in  the  far- off  future,  when  that  portion  of  the  continent  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  had  become  dry  land.  Thirteen 
inches  above  the  point  where  the  last  named  arrow  was  found,  and 
within  three  inches  of  being  on  a  line  with  it,  in  undisturbed  Loess, 
there  was  a  lumbar  vertebra  of  an  elephant  (E/ephas  Americanus}. 
Unfortunately  this  vertebra  partially  fell  to  pieces  on  exposure.  It 
appears  clear  from  this  conjunction  of  a  human  relic  and  proboscid- 
ian remains  that  man  here  as  well  as  in  Europe  was  the  cotempor- 
ary  of  the  elephant  in  at  least  a  portion  of  the  Missouri  Valley. 

In  1876  and  again  in  the  spring  of  1877  I  found  additional  arrow- 
heads in  the  Loess  of  the  Republican  Valley.  One  in  a  section 
described  on  a  previous  page  east  of  the  Republican  Forks  in 
Dundy  County.  It  was  in  the  Loess  below  the  second  bed  of  black 
soil,  or  fourteen  feet  below  the  surface.  Here,  then,  primeval  man 
existed  anterior  to  two  old  land  surfaces,  between  which  and  after 
the  last,  this  region  again  became  the  bed  of  a  Loess  lake.  Hon. 
R.  W.  Furnas  also  found  a  hatchet  in  the  Loess,  five  feet  below  the 
surface,  in  Brownville,  Nebraska. 

The  climate  probably  varied  considerably  during  the  progress  of 
this  age.  What  inclines  me  to  that  view  is  the  fact  that  about  the 
middle  horizon  an  unusually  large  number  of  southern  species  of 


286  GEOLOGY. 

mollusks  are  found.  This  indeed  is  not  conclusive,  as  this  region  is 
at  this  time  remarkable  for  the  presence  of  southern  forms  of  in- 
sects and  fresh- water  mollusks*  -Yet  it  appears  to  me  that  an  un- 
usual number  of  southern  forms  at  this  horizon  of  the  Loess  must 
indicate  some  modification  of  climate  at  that  period.  It  may  have 
been  only  on  the  eastern  shore  of  this  great  lake,  and  caused  by  the 
-even  temperature  which  so  large  a  body  of  fresh  water  produces  on 
the  side  toward  which  the  prevailing  winds  from  the  lake  blow. 
We  have  such  a  phenomenon  at  the  ]  resent  day  on  the  east 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  Mississippi  Valley  is  by  its  con- 
tour eminently  favorable  to  the  emigration  northward  of  southern 
species. 

These  Loess  deposits,  which  have  done  so  much  to  enrich  Ne- 
braska, have  received  profound  attention  and  study  from  some  of 
the  ablest  geologists.  But  in  many  of  the  counties  of  the  State 
they  have  not  yet  been  investigated.  Much  to  be  discovered  must 
yet  remain  in  them.  Though  myself  long  engaged  in  their  inves- 
tigation, I  rarely  examine  a  new  section  in  a  well,  ravine  or  railroad 
cut  without  finding  something  new. 

Close  of  the  Loess  Period. — It  was  a  continuation  of  the  up- 
ward movement  that  had  again  begun  during  the  second  de- 
pression epoch  of  the  Quaternary  that  brought  the  Loess 
period  to  a  final  close.  As  the  land  rose  most  towards  the  west 
and  north,  the  area  of  this  Loess  lake  was  gradually  lessened  from 
these  directions,  and  its  remnants  were  last  active  on  its  southeast- 
ern border.  This  explains  the  fact  already  mentioned  in  other  con- 
nections, that  the  long  gentle  slopes  of  the  bluffs  bordering  the 
flood-plains  running  in  an  easterly  and  westerly  direction  are  al- 
most universally  on  the  north  side  of  the  valleys.  The  closing  of 
the  Loess  period  first  clearly  outlined  the  present  rivers  of  Ne- 
braska, when  they  covered  the  whole  of  the  bottoms,  from  bluff 
to  bluff,  and  when  the  mud-flats  of  the  former  Loess  lake  them- 
selves constituted  the  flood-plain.  So  far  as  known,  no  convulsive 
movements  to  a  certainty  accompanied  the  close  of  this  period. 
Many  movements  of  this  kind  occurred  in  the  regions  of  the 
mountains  during  the  Quaternary,  but  they  have  not  yet  been 
synchronised  with  geological  events  on  the  plains. 

*Haydeu's  Report  for  1870,  page  467. 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  287 

Moi.LUSKS    IN    THE    LOESS    DEPOSITS. 

The  following  list  of  land  and  fresh-water  shells  comprises  all 
that  I  have  thus  far  identified,  in  whole  or  in  part,  from  the  Loess 
deposits.  Nearly  all  are  extremely  fragile.  The  Hyalinas,  Pupas, 
and  some  of  the  Helices  long  eluded  my  efforts  at  identifying  them. 
I  finally  marked  the  localities  where  found,  until  the  ground  was 
frozen,  when  they  were  cut  out  with  a  knife.  They  were  then 
identified  by  making  thin  sections  with  a  sharp  knife.  Many  of 
these  mollusks,  after  being  placed  for  a  while  in  my  cabinet,  fell  to 
pieces.  For  this  reason  I  have  no  specimens  to  show  of  many 
species  here  given,  and,  therefore,  only  present  this  as  a  provisional 
list.  Some  well-preserved  specimens  appear  to  me  to  be  new  to 
science,  but  as  I  have  not  access  to  the  descriptions  of  the  new 
species  discovered  by  Hay  den,  a  bare  list  of  which  is  given  in  Bin- 
ney's  and  Eland's  Land  and  Fresh  Water  Shells,  I  will  not  ven- 
ture to  describe  them,  as  that  has  probably  already  been  done.  The 
counties  are  indicated  where  the  specimens  were  obtained,  or  where 
they  were  the  most  abundant. 

In  addition  to  my  own  list  of  species,  which  were  first  published 
in  the  Hayden  Reports  for  1874,  Prof.  J.  E.  Todd  has  given 
eighteen  from  the  Loess  of  Iowa.  Prof.  Swrallow  also  reports  fifty 
species  from  the  Loess  of  Missouri,  twenty  of  which  are  fresh- 
water shells: 

Vitrina  limpida,  Gould,  Lancaster  and  Dixon  Counties. 

Hyalina  nitida?  Mueller,  Dixon  County. 

Hyalina  arborea,  Say,  Douglas  and  Dakota  Counties. 

Hyalina  viridula,  Monke,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Hyalina  indentata,  Say,  Otoe  and  Douglas  Counties 

Hyalina  limatula,  Ward,  Douglas  County. 

Hyalina  minuscula,  Binney,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Hyalina  b'mneyana?  Morse,  Dixon  and  Cedar.  Counties. 

Hyalina  ferrea?  Morse,  Dixon  County. 

Hyalina  exigtia,  Stimpson,  Dixon  and  Cedar  Counties. 

Hyalina  intertexta?  Binney,  Douglas  County. 

Hyalina  ligera,  Say,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Hyalina  demissa?  Binney,  Nemaha  and  RicHardson  Counties. 

Hyalina  fulva,  Dreparnaud,  Dixon  and  Cedar  Counties. 

Hyalina  lasmodon,  Phillips,  Nemaha  and  Otoe  Counties. 

Hyalina  interna,  Say,  Nemaha  and  Otoe  Counties. 


288  GEOLOGY. 

Hyalina  significans,  Bland,  Nemaha  and  Otoe  Counties. 
Hyalina  lineata?  Say,  Douglas  and  Otoe  Counties. 
Macrocyclis  concava,  Say,  Douglas  and  Otoe  Counties. 
Helix  solitaria,  Say,  Otoe  an  1  Burt  Counties. 
Helix  strigosa,  Gould,  Otoe  and  Burt  Counties. 
Helix  alternata,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  cumberlandiana,  Lea,  Middle  Loess  in  Nemaha  and  Otoe 
Counties. 

Helix  cooperi,  W.  G.  B.,  Douglas  and  Washington  Counties. 

Helix  striatella,  Anthony,  Dixon  and  Dakota  Counties. 

Helix  labyrinthica,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  hubbardi,  Brown,  Middle  Loess  in  Nemaha  County. 

Helix  auriformis,  Bland,  Middle  Loess  in  Otoe  County. 

Helix  tholus?  G.  G.  Binney,  Middle  Loess  in  Douglas  County. 

Helix  fastigans,  L.  W.  Say,  Middle  Loess  in  Otoe  County. 

Helix  jacksonii?  Bland,  Middle  Loess  in  Otoe  County. 

Helix  hazardi?  Bland,  Middle  Loess  in  Douglas  County. 

Helix  dorfeuilliana,  Lea,  Middle  Loess  in  Cass  County. 

Helix  pustula?  Fer,  Middle  Loess  of  Cass  County. 

Helix  spinosa,  Lea,  Middle  Loess  of  Harlan  County. 

Helix  edgariana?  Lea,  Middle  Loess  of  Richardson  County. 

Helix  stenotrema,  Fer,  Otoe  and  Cass  Counties. 

Helix  hirsuta,  Say,  Dixon  and  Cass  Counties. 

Helix  monodon,  Rackett,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  palliata,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  abstricta?  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  appressa?  Say,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Helix  inflecta,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  tridentata?  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  fallax,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska  and  Republican  Valley, 

Helix  albolabris,  Say,  Eastern  Nebraska  and  RepublicanValley. 

Helix  multilineata,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  pennsylvanica,  Green,  Douglas  County. 

Helix  elevata,  Say,  Eastern  Nebraska  and  Republican  Valley. 

Helix  exoleta,  Binney,  Eastern  Nebraska  andRepublican  Valley. 

Helix  roemeri,  Pfeifer,  Middle  Loess  of  Richardson  County. 

Helix  thyroides,  Eastern  Nebraska  and  Republican  Valley. 

Helix  clausa,  Say,  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Helix  jejuna?  Say,  Richardson  County. 

Helix  profunda,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska  and  Republican  Valley. 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  289 

Helix  pulchella,  Mull,    all    Eastern    Nebraska    and    Republican 
Valley. 

Helix ,  Republican  Valley. 

Helix ,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Helix ,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Helix ,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Helix ,  Dakota  and  Dixon  Counties. 

Helix ,  Dakota  and  Dixon  Counties. 

Bulimulus  dealbatus,  Say,  Middle  Loess  of  Nemaha  County. 

Cionella  subcylindrica,  Linn.,  Southeastern  Nebraska. 

Pupa  muscorum?  Linn.,  Cedar  County. 

Pupa  blandi,  Morse,  Dixorf^  Dakota  and  Burt  Counties. 

Pupa  fallax,  Say,  Dixon,  Dakota  and  Burt  Counties. 

Pupa  armifera,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Pupa  corticaria,  Say,  all  Eastern  Nebraska. 

Succinea  haydeni?  W.  G  B.,  Republican  Valley. 

Succinea  mooresiana,  Lea,  Republican  Valley. 

Succinea  avara,  Lea,  Republican  Valley. 

Succinea  obliqua,  Say,  Dixon  and  Dakota  Counties. 

Succinea ,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Zonites  fuliginosa,  Griff,  Republican  Valley. 
Zonites  lasvigata?  Pfeifer,  Republican  Valley. 
Zonites  inornata,  Say,  Cass  and  Otoe  Counties. 
Zonites,  gularis,  Say,  Southeastern  Nebraska. 
Carychium?  exiguum?  Say,  Nemaha  County. 
Limnoea  stagnalis?  Linn.,  Washington  County. 
Limncea  reflexa,  Say,  Dakota  and  Dixon  Counties. 
Limnoea  palustris,  Mull.,  along  Missouri  Bluffs. 
Physa  gyrina,  Say,  Dakota  County. 
Physa  heterostropha,  Say,  Douglas  County. 
Physa  —     — ,  Douglas  County. 

Physa ,  Douglas  County. 

Psulinus ,  Otoe  County. 

Planorbis  glabratus,  Say,  Otoe  County. 
Planorbis  campanulatus,  Say,  Dakota  County. 
Planorbis  corpulentus?  Say,  Dakota  County. 
Planorbis  deflectus,  Say,  Nemaha  County. 
Planorbis  albus?  Mull.,  Dixon  County. 
Ancylus  —  — ,  Dakota,  Harlan  County. 
Valvata  tricar  in  at  a,  Say,  Dixon  County. 


290 


GEOLOGY. 


Valvata ,  Say,  Otoe  and  Burt  Counties. 

Vivipara  intertexta?  Say,  Otoe  County. 

Vivapara  subpurpurea?  Say,  Otoe  and  Nemaha  Counties. 

Vivapara  contectoides,  Binney,  Nemaha  County. 

Melantho  ponderosa,  Say,  Washington  County. 

Melantho  decisa,  Say,  Burt  County. 

Amnicola  perata?  Say,  Washington  County. 

Amnicola  lemnosa?  Say,  Washington  County. 

Pomatiopsis  lapidaria,  Say,  Dakota  County. 

Helicina  orbiculata,  Say,  Nemaha  County. 

Angitrema  armigera,  Say,  Nemaha  County. 

Lithasia,  obovata,  Say,  Richardso^  County. 

Pleurocera  undulatum?  Harlan  County. 

Pleurocera  canaleculatum,  Say,  Nemaha  County. 

Pleurocera  elevatum,  Say,  Otoe  County. 

Pleurocera  labiatum?  Lea,  Richardson  County. 

Pleurocera  simplex?  Lea,  Otoe  County. 

Goniobasis  depygis,  Say,  Richardson  and  Otoe  Counties. 

Goniobasis  livescens?  Menke,  Richardson  County. 

Goniobasis  brevispira?  Anthony,  Otoe  County. 

Goniobasis,  semicaranata,  Say,  Otoe  County. 

Anculosa  costata,  Anthony,  Richardson  County. 

Anculosa  praerosa,  Say,  Richardson  County. 

Anculosa? ,  Richardson  County. 

Unio  —       — ,  Cedar,  Dakota,  and  Burt  Counties. 
Unio -,  Nemaha  County. 


Unio  —       — ,  Otoe  and  Cass  Counties. 

Anadonta — ,  Washington  County. 

Anadonta ,  Republican  Valley. 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  291 


CHAPTER  IX. 

QUATERNARY  AGE  AND  SUPERFICIAL  DEPOSITS, 
CONTINUED.— TERRACE  EPOCH.— ALLUVIUM.— 
SAND  HILLS.— ALKALI  LANDS.— TIMBER,  AND 
CAUSE  OF  CHANGES  OF  CLIMATE. 

Relationship  of  the  Terrace  Epoch  to  Subsequent  Times. — Level  of  the 
Land. — Gradual  Formation  of  Terraces. — Highest  Elevation  Reached,  and 
its  Effects  in  the  West.— Section  Showing  Glacial  Action.— Effect  of  Ex- 
treme Elevation  on  River  Channels. — Varying  Heights  of  Terraces. — Allu- 
vium.— Its  importance,  and  How  Gradually  Produced. — Character  of  the 
Bottom  Lands,  and  their  Great  Extent. — Analysis  of  Alluvium. — Sand  Hills, 
and  their  Extent  and  Geological  Character. — Theories  about  their  Origin. — 
Pliocene  Origin  of  Many  of  Them. — Capabilities  for  Cultivation.— Alkali 
Lands. — Extent  and  Character. — Analysis  of  Alkali  Soils. — How  to  Cultivate 
Them. — Hard-pan,  or  "Gumbo"  Soils. — Their  Character,  Extent  and  Analysis. 
— Bad  Lands.— Their  Superficial  Character  and  Appearance. — Organic  Re- 
mains, and  Agricultural  Character — Fuel  from  the  Surface  Deposits. — Peat. 
— Its  Extent  and  Character. — Timber  in  Modern  Geological  Times.— Causes 
of  Changes  of  Climate. 


F 


TERRACE  EPOCH. 

HROM  the  preceding,  it  ic  evident  that  the  Terrace  Epoch  in 
Nebraska  is  closely  connected  with  that  order  of  events  and 
with  tho<e  changes  that  finally  resulted  in  the  present  order  of 
things.  It  commenced  here  after  the  close  of  the  Loess  period. 
When  the  rivers  covered  the  whole  of  the  existing  bottoms,  and 
had  the  old  Loess  lake  bed  for  a  flood -plain,  the  land  still  lay  far 
below  its  present  level,  and  was  in  the  transition  stage  between  the 
Loess  and  Terrace  periods.  When  the  elevation  became  a  little 
greater,  and  the  drainage  better,  and  the  volume  of  water  less,  it 
cut  a  new  channel  amid  its  old  bed,  which  now  constituted  its 
flood-plain.  This  formed  the  first  terrace,  and  fully  inaugurated 
this  epoch.  Here  the  land  and  the  river  must  have  stood  for  ages. 
Again  there  was  an  upward  movement,  the  drainage  became  still 
better,  the  volume  of  water  lessened,  and  another  channel  formed, 
and  the  previous  river  bed  changed  to  a  flood-plain.  Thus  terrace 


292  GEOLOGY. 

after  terrace  was  formed,  each  representing  a  stage  of  quiet  in  the 
upward  movement  of  the  land.  There  are  some  indications  that 
this  upward  movement  continued  until  this  section  of  the  continent 
stood  considerably  above  its  present  level.  This  is  known  to  have 
been  the  case  in  Europe,  where  even  local  glaciers  were  formed  at 
this  time,  which  disappeared  only  when  a  movement  in  the  oppo- 
site direction  had  once  more  brought  the  land  to  a  lower  level- 
The  following  section  indicates  some  movement  of  this  kind  for 
extreme  southwestern  Nebraska.  It  was  taken  in  a  canyon  leading 
into  the  Republican  Valley,  immediately  west  of  the  west  line  of 
the  State  in  Colorado.  I  saw  similar  sections,  however,  on  the 
Nebraska  side  of  the  State  line: 

1.  Black  soil 1     foot. 

2.  Drift 2     feet. 

3.  Alluvium 2       " 

4.  Black  soil 75  " 

5.  Alluvium 4       " 

6.  Lre-s   4       " 

7.  Alluvium 4       " 

8.  Black  i  oil 1     foot. 

9.  Loess  aud  Drift 4     feet. 

10.  Black  soil 1.25  " 

This  section  tells  its  own  story — a  history  of  frequent  changes  of 
level.  After  the  last  Loess  was  laid  down,  river  alluvium  was  de- 
posited, on  top  of  which  appeared  a  black  soil,  which  was  again 
flooded  and  covered  with  alluvium.  On  top  of  the  last,  Drift  ma- 
terial, which  most  nearly  resembles  glacial  Drift,  was  formed, 
which  in  turn  gave  way  again  to  the  present  black  soil  of  this  re- 
gion. It  would  not  be  surprising  if  further  investigation  should 
confirm  the  explanation  suggested  above — that  the  upward  move- 
ment of  the  Terrace  Epoch  continued  until  a  much  higher  level 
than  the  present  was  reached.  Local  glaciers  might  then  readily 
have  been  formed  in  the  extreme  western  sections  ot  the  State,  or 
at  least  in  Colorado,  the  movements  and  melting  of  which  pro- 
duced the  drift  and  gravel  beds  that  are  found  in  so  many  places 
overlying  the  Loess.  The  rivers  might  then  have  been  worn 
down  much  below  their  present  level,  and  even,  in  places,  to  bed- 
rock. After  the  opposite  or  descending  movement  commenced, 
the  rivers  again  silted  up  their  beds.  This  silting  up  continued  to 
recent  times.  At  present  the  indications  are  that  there  is  a  slight 


QUATERNARY   AGE.  293 

upward   movement  of  this  portion   of  the   continent,    amounting 
to  perhaps  one  or  two  feet  to  the  century. 

The  terraces  made  during  this  epoch  occupy  various  heights 
above  the  flood-plains.  The  one  next  to  the  rivers  in  the  interior 
ranges  from  three  to  six  feet  above  the  lowest  bottom.  The  next 
is  from  twelve  to  twenty-five  feet  above  the  first,  and  a  third  at 
varying  heights  above  the  last.  Often  terraces  intermediate  be- 
tween these  are  detected.  They  vary  so  much  in  height  that  the 
system  ascertained  to  exist  at  one  place  is  no  guide  for  the  next 
river.  This  variation,  no  doubt,  is  partly  caused  by  one  or  two  or 
more  corresponding  terraces  being  removed  by  subsequent  erosion. 
They  are  the  memorials  of  the  rivers'  former  stay  for  an  indefinite 
time  at  that  level.  It  is  possible  that  this  Terrace  Epoch  was  as  long 
as  the  Loess  period,  but  of  this  there  is  no  certainty,  as  it  partakes 
in  part  of  the  character  of  a  lost  interval  of  geological  history. 

Alluvium. — Next  to  the  Loess  deposits,  in  an  economical  point  of 
view,  the  Alluvium  formations  are  the  most  important.  The  val- 
leys and  flood -plains  of  the  rivers  and  smaller  streams,  where  these 
deposits  are  found,  are  a  prominent  feature  of  the  surface  geology 
of  the  State.  All  the  rivers  of  the  interior,  such  as  the  Platte,  the 
Republican,  the  Niobrara,  the  Elkhorn,  the  Blues,  the  Nemahas, 
and  their  tributaries,  have  broad  bottoms  in  the  center  or  on  one  side 
of  which  the  streams  have  their  beds.  The  width  of  these  bottoms 
seem  to  be  dependent  on  the  character  of  the  underlying  rock-forma- 
tion. Where  this  is  soft  or  yielding,  the  bottoms  are  broad,  but 
where  it  is  hard  and  compact  they  contract.  This  is,  no  doubt,  one 
reason  why  the  bottoms  on  the  middle  or  upper  courses  of  some  of 
the  rivers  are  wider  than  farther  down.*  These  broad  bottoms,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  represent  the  ancient  river-beds  toward  the 
close  of  the  Loess  age.  It  required  many  ages  to  drain  the  mighty 
ancient  lake-bed;  and  when  the  present  rivers  were  first  outlined, 
the  greater  part  of  it  was  yet  a  vast  swamp  or  bog.  But,  gradually, 
as  the  continent  ro^e  to  a  higher  level,  the  rivers  cut  deeper  and 
deeper,  filling  the  whole  flood-plain  from  bluff  to  bluff.  Not  until 
the  drainage  of  this  region  was  completed  and  the  continent  had 
reached  nearly  to  its  present  level,  was  the  volume  of  water  so 
much  diminished  that  the  rivers  contracted  their  currents  and  cut 
new  beds  somewhere  through  the  present  bottoms.  The  terraces, 
which  are  so  numerous  along  many  of  the  river-bottoms,  indicates 


*See  on  this  subject  Hayden's  Report  for  1871. 


294  GEOLOGY. 

the  slowness  with  which  the  land  assumed  its  present  form.  The 
upper  terraces  were  dry  bottom  when  all  the  rest  of  the  valley  was 
yet  a  river-bed.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  these  bottoms  were  ex- 
cavated  during  sub-glacial  times,  and  afterward  were  filled  up  with 
debris  when  the  continent  had  reached  the  lowest  level.  The  great 
depth  of  sand  and  mud  at  the  bottom  of  the  Missouri,  being  from 
forty  to  one  hundred  feet  below  water  along  the  Nebraska  line  be- 
fore solid  rock  is  reached,  indicates  an  elevation  of  this  region,  when 
this  was  accomplished,  far  greater  than  it  reached  at  any  period 
during  or  immediately  after  Loess  times.  When  this  great  lake 
commenced  to  be  drained,  the  waters  naturally  took  the  direction 
and  place  of  least  resistance,  which  was  the  original  bed  of  the 
river.  If  the  Rocky  Mountain  system  continues  to  rise,  as  it  is  be- 
lieved to  be  doing,  at  the  rate  of  a  few  feet  to  the  century,  although 
degradation  may  be  equal  to  elevation,  a  time  must  come  in  the  dis- 
tant future  when  the  Missouri  will  again  roll  over  solid  rock  at  its 
bottom. 

As  typical  of  the  river-bottoms,  let  us  look  at  the  formation  of 
the  Platte  Valley.  The  general  direction  of  this  great  highway 
from  the  mountains  to  the  Missouri  is  from  west  to  east.  This  val- 
ley is  from  three  to  twenty  miles  wide  in  Nebraska,  and  over  five 
hundred  miles  long.  All  the  materials  that  once  filled  up  this 
trough,  from  the  tops  of  the  highest  hills  on  each  side,  have  beenr 
since  the  present  rivers  were  outlined,  toward  the  close  of  the  Lo- 
ess age,  transported  by  the  agency  of  water  to  the  Missouri  and  the 
Gulf.*  Here,  then,  are  several  thousand  miles  in  area  of  surface  en- 
tirely removed  by  denudation.  Now  the  Platte  comprises  only  a 
fraction  of  the  river-bottoms  of  Nebraska.  The  Republican,  alone,. 
for  two  hundred  miles  has  a  bottom  ranging  from  three  to  eight 
miles  in  breadth.  The  combined  length  of  the  main  bottoms  of  the 
Blues,  Elkhorns,  and  the  Loups,  would  be  over  a  thousand  miles, 
and  their  breadth  ranges  from  one  to  ten  miles.  The  Nemahas 
and  the  Bows,  and  portions  of  the  Niobrara,  also  acid  a  great  deal 
to  the  area  of  bottom  lands.  All  these  rivers  have  numerous 
tributaries,  which  have  valleys  in  size  proportionate  to  the  main 
rivers,  and  these  more  than  double  the  areas  of  bottom-land.  The 
Missouri  has,  also,  in  some  counties,  like  Dakota  and  Burt,  con- 
tributed large  areas  of  bottom-land  to  the  soil  of  the  State.  These 
Missouri  bottoms  in  Nebraska  are  exceptionally  high,  so  that  few 


*See  Hayden's  Report  for  1870. 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  295 

of  them  have  been  overflowed  since  the  settlement  of  the  country. 
The  one  element  of  uncertainty  about  them  is,  when  located  near 
the  river,  the  danger  of  being  gradually  washed  away  by  the  un- 
dermining action  of  the  water.  Sometimes  during  flood-time,  when 
the  current  sweeps  the  bank,  it  is  so  insiduously  undermined  that> 
for  several  rods  in  length  and  many  feet  in  breadth,  it  tumbles  into 
the  river.  This  cutting  of  the  river  is  greatest  when  it  com- 
mences to  fall.  Where  the  bank  is  removed  on  one  side  it  gener- 
ally is  built  up  on  the  other.  The  old  town  of  Omadi,  in  Dakota 
County,  is  an  instance  of  this  kind.  So  rapidly  did  the  river  cut 
into  the  bank,  that  many  of  the  houses  could  not  be  removed,  and 
fell  victims  to  the  flood.  The  river  cut  far  enough  to  the  west  of 
the  old  site  to  leave  it  and  its  own  bed,  after  being  blowrn  full  of 
sand,  to  be  grown  up  into  a  forest  of  cottonwood. 

When  now  we  bring  into  our  estimate  all  the  river  bottoms  of 
Nebraska,  and  the  tributaries  of  these  rivers,  and  reflect  that  all 
these  valleys  were  formed  in  the  same  way,  within  comparatively 
modern  geological  times,  the  forces  which  water-agencies  brought 
into  play  almost  appal  the  mind  by  their  very  immensity.  So  well 
are  these  bottom-lands  distributed  that  the  emigrants  can,  in  most 
of  the  counties  of  the  State,  choose  between  them  and  the  uplands 
for  their  future  home.  In  some  of  the  new  counties,  like  Fillmore, 
where  bottom-lands  are  far  apart,  there  are  many  small,  modern 
dried-up  lake  beds,  whose  soil  is  closely  allied  to  that  of  the  valleys 
Not  unfrequently  is  the  choice  made  of  portions  of  each,  on  the 
supposition  that  the  bottom-lands  are  best  adapted  for  the  growth 
of  large  crops  of  grasses.  But  all  the  years  of  experience  in  culti- 
vating uplands  and  bottoms  in  Nebraska  leave  the  question  of  the 
superiority  of  the  one  over  the  other  undecided.  Both  have  their 
advocates.  The  seasons  as  well  as  the  location  have  much  to  do 
with  the  question.  Some  bottom-lands  are  high  and  dry,  while 
others  are  lower  and  contain  so  much  alumina  that  in  wet  seasons 
they  are  difficult  to  work.  On  such  lands,  too,  a  wet  spring  inter- 
feres somewhat  with  early  planting  and  sowring.  All  the  uplands, 
too,  which  have  a  Loess  origin,  seem  to  produce  cultivated  grass  as 
luxuriantly  as  the  richest  bottoms,  especially  where  there  is  deep 
cultivation  on  old  breaking.  Again,  most  of  the  bottom-lands  are 
so  mingled  with  Loess  materials,  and  their  drainage  is  so  good  that 
the  cereal  grains  and  fruits  are  as  productive  on  them  as  on  the 
high  lands.  The  bottom-lands  are,  however,  the  richest  in  organic 


296 


GEOLOGY. 


matter.  The  following  analyses  of  these  soils  will  give  a  better 
idea  of  their  physical  character.  The  samples  were  taken  from 
what  are  believed  to  be  average  soils.  The  first  is  from  the  Elk- 
iiorn,  the  second  from  the  Platte,  the  third  from  the  Republican, 
and  the  fourth  from  the  Blue  River.  The  fifth  is  from  an  excep- 
tionally wet  and  sticky  soil,  about  two  miles  southeast  of  Dakota 
City. 


No   1. 

No  2. 

No.  3 

No.  4. 

No.  5. 

Insoluble  (silicious)  matter     

63.07 
2.85 
8.41 
7.08 
.90 
1.41 
.50 
.49 
.79 
14.00 
.50 

63.70 
2.25 
7.76 
7.99 
.85 
1.45 
.54 
.52 
.70 
13.45 
.79 

63.01 
2.40 
8.36 
8.01 
.99 
1.39 
.61 
.54 
.71 
13.01 
.97 

62.99 
2.47 
8.08 
7.85 
.94 
1.40 
.67 
.58 
.79 
13.27 
.96 

61.03 
2.82 
10.52 
7.09 
.98 
1.38 
.60 
.57 
.69 
13.40 
.92 

Ferric  oxide         .               

Alumina     

Lime  carbonate  

Lime  phosphate  

Majrnesia  carbonate                          

Potash                                 

Soda     .       .       .            

Sulphuric  acid     

Organic  matter  

JLoss  in  analysis                                  .   .'.... 

Total            

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

It  is  well  known  that  many  soils  vary  a  great  deal  in  chemical 
properties  that  are  taken  only  a  few  feet  apart,  and  therefore  anal- 
yses often  fail  to  give  a  correct  idea  of  their  true  character.  But 
from  the  above  analyses,  taken  from  widely  distant  localities,  it  is 
at  least  evident  that  chemically,  alluvium  differs  from  the  Loess  de- 
posits principally  in  having  more  organic  matter  than  alumina,  and 
less  silica.  The  depth  of  the  alluvium  varies  greatly.  Occasionally 
sand  and  drift  materials  predominate  in  the  river  bottoms,  especially 
in  the  subsoil;  sometimes  the  alluvium  is  of  unknown  depth,  and 
again  in  a  few  feet  the  drift  pebbles  and  sand  of  the  subsoil  are 
struck.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  some  of  the  western  valleys 
which  were  worn  down  to  the  drift,  and  were  not  again  subse- 
qently  filled  up,  though  such  cases  are  not  often  met  with.  There 
must  have  been  a  period  of  longer  or  shorter  duration,  when  the 
bottoms  were  in  the  condition  of  swamps  and  bogs;  and  during  this 
period  the  greater  part  of  that  organic  matter,  which  is  a  distinguish- 
ing feature  of  these  lands,  accumulated  in  the  surface-soil.  It  would 
be  easy  to  select  isolated  spots,  where  the  soil  has  forty  per  cent  of 
organic  matter;  where,  in  fact,  it  is  composed  of  semi-peat.  When 
we  reflect  that  this  black  soil  is  often  twenty  feet  thick,  it  is  appar- 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  297 

•ent  that  the  period  of  its  formation  must  have  been  very  long.  There 
-are  still  some  few  localities  where  that  formative  condition  has  been 
perpetuated  to  the  present  time — as,  for  example,  the  bogs  that  are 
yet  met  with  at  the  head-waters  of  the  Elkhorn  and  the  Logan, 
along  the  Elk  Creek,  on  the  Dakota  bottom,  and  on  the  Stinking 
River,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Republican.  In  fact,  along  these 
tributaries  all  the  intermediate  stages  from  perfectly  dry  bottom  to 
a  bog  can  yet  be  found.  But,  so  much  has  the  volume  of  water 
iDeen  lessened  in  all  the  rivers  of  Nebraska  through  the  influence  of 
geological  causes,  that  there  are  few  places  where  now,  even  in 
flood-time,  they  overflow  their  banks.  A  curious  phenomenon,  il- 
lustrating through  what  changes  of  level  and  other  conditions  these 
river  bottoms  have  passed,  before  reaching  their  present  form,  is 
the  occurrence  at  various  depths,  of  from  ten  to  fifty  feet,  of  great 
masses  of  timber  in  a  semi-decayed  condition.  One  such  deposit  on 
the  Blue  River  bottom,  near  the  mouth  of  Turkey  Creek,  success- 
fully interrupted  the  digging  of  a  well.  So  many  thicknesses  of  logs 
occurred  that  it  was  found  best  to  abandon  the  work  already  done  for 
a  new  place.  I  have  frequently  observed  trees,  with  trunks  twenty 
to  sixty  feet  long,  sticking  out  from  under  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
souri, where  the  soil  had  been  freshly  removed.  It  is  possible  that 
this  timber  accumulated  in  these  places  during  the  period  when  the 
rivers  yet  covered  their  entire  bottoms,  and  when  numberless  trees 
must  have  been  carried  down  during  flood-time,  and  either  stranded 
on  the  ancient  sand  bars  and  mud-banks,  or  sunk  to  rise  no  more  in 
the  deeper  pools  and  eddies  which  were  rapidly  filled  up.  The 
species,  so  far  as  I  have  yet  been  able  to  determine,  from  an  exam- 
ination of  the  half-decayed  wood,  are  the  same  as  yet  grow  in  this 
region.  They  are  principally  cottonwood,  elm,  cedar,  maple  and 
walnut. 

THE  SAND-HILLS. 

The  sand-hills  are  an  often-mentioned  portion  of  Nebraska. 
'They  are  found  in  certain  sections  of  the  western  portion  of  the 
State.  South  of  the  Platte  Valley  they  run  parallel  with  the  river, 
and  are  from  one-half  to  six  miles  in  breadth.  A  few  are  also 
found  on  the  tributaries  of  the  Republican.  Occasionally  slightly 
sandy  districts  are  found  as  far  east  as  the  Logan,  but  they  rarely 
approach  even  a  small  hill  in  magnitude.  A  few  sand  ridges  are 
also  found  on  the  Elkhorn.  North  of  the  Platte,  from  about  the 
mouth  of  the  Calamus  on  to  the  Niobrara,  they  cover  much  larger 


298  GEOLOGY. 

areas.  They  are  also  found  over  a  limited  area  north  of  the  Nio- 
brara.  Hayden  (Report  for  1870,  p.  108)  estimates  the  area  of  the 
sand-hills  at  about  20,000  square  milas.  From  exploring  the  same 
region,  I  should  not  estimate  them  as  so  extensive,  unless  the  fact 
be  kept  in  mind  that  they  are  not  continuous  over  the  whole  region. 
They  are  indeed  found  all  the  way  for  100  miles  west  from  the 
mouth  of  Rapid  River,  but  in  many  places  from  eight  to  twenty 
miles  south  of  the  Niobrara  there  are  spots  where  the  soil  seemed 
to  be  a  mixture  of  Drift  and  Loess,  and  of  high  fertility,  as  was  in- 
dicated by  ths  character  and  rankness  of  the  vegetation.  Some- 
times these  hills  are  comparatively  barren,  and  then  again  they  are 
fertile  enough  to  sustain  a  covering  of  nutritious  grasses;  so  that 
this  region  is  by  no  means  the  utterly  barren  waste  that  it  is  some- 
times represented  to  be.  It  has  been  a  favorite  range  for  buffalo, 
and  still  is  for  antelope  and  deer;  and,  judging  from  their  condition,, 
the  conclusion  would  be  natural  that  this  region  could  be  used  for 
stock-raising.  In  fact,  already  large  herds  of  cattle  are  kept  here. 
A  great  deal  of  the  vegetation  is  peculiar  to  sandy  districts.  Some 
of  the  hills  seem  to  have  their  loose  sands  held  together  by  the 
Ucca  angustifolia,  which  sends  its  roots  down  to  a  great  depth.  It 
probably  marks  a  certain  stage  in  their  history.  After  this  plant 
has  compacted  and  given  to  the  sands  organic  matter,  the  grasses 
come  in  and  partially  clothe  the  hills.  The  materials  of  these  sand- 
hills are  almost  entirely  sand,  pebbles,  and  gravel,  of  varying  de- 
grees of  fineness.  The  sand  always  predominates.  Occasionally  it 
is  more  or  less  modified  by  the  presence  of  other  materials,  such  as 
lime,  potash,  soda,  alumina,  and  organic  matter.  These  hills  are 
in  some  places  stationary,  and  so  covered  by  vegetation  that  their 
true  character  is  not  suspected  until  closely  examined.  In  other 
places  again,  especially  in  portions  of  the  Loup  and  Niobrara  region  y 
they  are  so  loosely  compacted  that  the  wind  is  ever  changing  their 
form,  and  turning  them  into  all  kinds  of  fantastic  shapes.  The 
most  common  appearance  is  that  of  a  plain,  undulating  or  hilly  re- 
gion, covered  with  conical  hills  of  drifting  sands.  The  smaller  ele- 
vations frequently  show  a  striking  resemblance  to  craters.  One 
such  curious  hill  I  found  south  of  the  Calamus,  where  the  crater- 
like  basin  seemed  to  be  compacted  at  once,  and  grown  over  with  a 
species  of  wire  grass.  With  the  increase  of  rainfall  and  vegetation,, 
the  remodifying  effects  of  the  winds  disappear. 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  299 

Some  eminent  geologists  have  sought  to  account  for  these  hills 
by  the  theory  that  the  winds  in  the  course  of  ages  have  blown  the 
sand  from  the  bars  on  the  rivers  until  their  accumulation  caused 
these  peculiar  elevations.  There  are  many  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  this  theory.  East  of  Columbus  no  sand-hills  are  found,  and  it  is 
hard  to  conceive  how  they  should  come  to  be  limited  to  the  west- 
ern portion  of  the  State  if  they  were  formed  in  this  way.  In  some 
places  at  least  the  hills  are  partly  composed  of  large  pebbles  and 
stones  that  could  not  have  been  moved  by  the  winds.  This  is  espe- 
cially the  case  in  some  of  these  hills  south  and  east  of  Kenesaw,  in 
Adams  County.  I  suggest,  as  a  provisional  explanation,  the  prob- 
ability that,  south  of  the  Platte,  the  lines  of  sand-hills  show  the 
track  of  a  current  in  the  old  lake  that  produced  the  Loess  deposits. 
It  is  well  known  that  fine  sediment  is  deposited  in  still  water,  but 
coarse  materials,  such  as  sand  and  pebbles,  in  the  borders  and  in 
tracks  of  currents.  As  the  whole  country  rises  toward  the  west, 
the  water  here  may  have  veen  very  rapid,  and  the  land  in  process 
of  drying  up  when  it  was  yet  deep  at  its  lower  levels.  Both 
causes,  the  currents  and  the  winds,  may  have  co-operated  to  pro- 
duce these  deposits.  I  am  also  satisfied  that  in  some  localities  the 
sand-hills  are  nothing  more  than  modified  Loess  deposits.  They 
are  Loess  deposits,  with  all  the  alumina,  organic  matter  ard  finest 
sand  washed  out  of  them.  This  at  least  seems  to  be  the  origin  of 
some  of  the  sand-hills  on »the  Lower  Loup,  where  they  occupy  a 
lower  level  than  the  Loess  deposits.  These  two  deposits  so  often 
shade  into  each  other  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sand-hills,  rendering  it 
impossible  to  tell  where  the  one  begins  and  the  other  ends,  that  the 
theory  of  their  common  origin  best  explains  the  phenomena  of 
these  formations.  After  the  western  portion  of  the  Loess  deposits 
first  became  dry  land,  water-agencies  were  yet  so  powerful  espec- 
ially in  flood  times  that  much  of  it  must  have  been  re  modified,  and 
the  coarser  materials  left  to  form  sand-hills.  And  as  we  have 
already  seen  in  another  chapter,  some  of,the  sand  and  gravel  hills 
partake  largely  of  the  Old  \Vorld  Kames,  and  may  have  been 
formed  in  the  same  way,  especially  as  against  these  the  Loess  de- 
posits abut.  The  sand-hills  on  the  Upper  Loup  and  the  Niobrara 
probably  derived  the  bulk  of  their  materials  directly  from  the  Plio- 
cene Tertiary  deposits,  which  were  mainly  loosely  compacted 
sands.  This  old  Pliocene  lake  was  probably  perpetuated  here 
down  through  Loess  times  to  the  borders  of  our  own  era.  Even 


300  GEOLOGY. 

yet  lakelets  are  numerous  over  portions  of  this  region,  some  of 
of  which  are  alkaline  and  others  fresh  water.  The  latter  can  easily 
be  distinguished  from  the  former  at  sight  by  the  thick  vegetation 
growing  around  their  margins,  of  which  the  former  have  very  little, 
;and  sometimes  not  a  trace.  It  is  at  least  evident  that  these  fresh- water 
lakes  have  had  some  common  origin.  Their  fauna  would  prove 
it.  The  same  species  of  fish  and  fresh-water  mollusks  are  found  in 
most  of  the  large  ones,  even  where  there  is  no  perceptible  present 
•outlet. 

Although  opposed  to  the  views  of  eminent  scientists,  I  have  no 
•doubt  that  many  of  these  hills  are  capable  of  cultivation,  and  some 
day  will  be  cultivated.  In  fact  already  many  of  them,  that  ten 
years  ago  were  barren  of  vegetation,  are  now  covered  by  a  vig- 
orous growth  of  grasses,  and  some  that  are  favorably  located  are 
successfully  included  among  the  cultivated  fields  of  adjoining  farms. 
Notable  examples  of  this  can  be  seen  south  of  Lowell.  The  trans- 
formation has  been  caused  by  the  increasing  rainfall  of  the  State. 
Not  all  of  them,  indeed,  will  be  utilized  until  the  rich  lands  that 
border  them  are  improved.  But  when  better  lands  become  scarce 
and  costly,  advances  will  gradually  be  made  on  the  sand-hills. 
Already  it  has  been  proved  that  they  produce  corn,  sweet  pota- 
toes and  other  root  crops  equal  at  least  to  the  New  Jersey  sands. 
The  rich  marl  beds  in  their  vicinity  will  supply  an  inexhaustible 
•source  of  fertilizing  them. 

Much  has  been  done  by  geologists  in  exploring  these  sand-hills, 
still  much  more  remains  to  be  accomplished  before  all  the  causes 
that  produced  them  are  thoroughly  understood. 

ALKALI    LANDS. 

Every  one  in  Nebraska  will  sooner  or  later  hear  of  the  so-called 
alkali  lands.  They  are  not  confined  to  any  one  geological  forma- 
tion, but  are  found  sometimes  on  the  Drift,  Alluvium,  or  the  Loess. 
They  increase  in  number  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  portions 
of  the  State.  Yet  one  half  ef  the  counties  of  the  State  do  not 
have  any  such  lands,  and  often  there  are  only  a  few  in  a  township  or 
•county.  Where  they  have  been  closely  examined  they  are  found 
to  vary  a  great  deal  in  chemical  constituents.  Generally,  however, 
the  alkali  is  largely  composed  of  soda  compounds,  with  an  occa- 
sional excess  of  lime  and  magnesia  or  potash.  The  following  an- 
alyses of  these  soils  show  how  variable  they  are.  The  first  is  taken 


QUATERNARY    AGE. 


301 


from  the  Platte  bottom,  south  of  North   Platte;    the  second  from, 
near  old  Fort  Kearney,  and  the  third  two  miles  west  of  Lincoln: 


|  No  1.  I  No.  2.     No.  3. 


Insoluble  (silicious)  matter         .    .       .... 

74.00 

73  10 

73  90- 

3.80 

3.73 

3.69 

Alumina 

2.08 

2  29 

2  10- 

Lime  carbonate.     .               

6.01 

4  29 

3.90> 

Lime  phosphate  

1.70 

1.40 

1.49- 

Magnesia  carbonate                                  .         . 

1.89 

1  29 

1   47 

Potash                                   .       

1.68 

1  80 

3.69- 

Soda  carbonate  and  bicarbonate  

5.17 

7.33 

4.91 

Sodium  sulphate                              .                      • 

.70 

89 

891 

Moisture                      

.99 

98 

.98- 

Organic  matter     

1.20 

2.10 

2.10- 

Loss  in  analysis                          .              ... 

.78 

80 

88- 

Total  .  . 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

The  specimens  for  analysis  were  not  taken  from  soils  crusted  over 
with  alkaline  matter,  but  from  spots  where  the  ground  was  covered 
with  a  sparse  vegetation. 

Many  of  the  alkali  lands  seem  to  have  originated  from  an  accu- 
mulation of  water  in  low  places,  where  there  is  an  excess  of  alum- 
ina in  the  soil  or  subsoil.  The  escape  of  the  water  by  evaporation 
left  the  saline  matter  behind,  and,  in  the  case  of  salt  (sodium  chlo- 
ride), which  all  waters  are  known  to  contain  in  at  least  minute 
quantities,  the  chlorine,  by  chemical  reactions,  separated  from  the 
sodium;  which  latter,  uniting  immediately  with  oxygen  and  car- 
bonic acid,  formed  the  soda  compounds. 

These  alkali  spots  are  often  successfully  cultivated.  The  first 
steps  toward  their  renovation  must  be  drainage  and  deep  cultiva- 
tion. The  next  step  is  the  consumption  of  the  excess  of  alkali,, 
which  can  be  effected  by  crops  of  the  cereal  grains  in  wet  seasons. 
In  such  seasons  these  alkali  lands,  if  deeply  cultivated,  often  pro- 
duce splendid  crops  of  grain.  Wheat  is  especially  a  great  con- 
sumer of  the  alkalies;  and  these  being  partly  removed  in  this  way, 
and  the  remaining  excess  mingled  with  the  deeply  cultivated  soil, 
renders  it,  in  many  instances,  in  a  few  years  capable  of  being  used 
for  the  other  ordinary  crops  of  Nebraska.  Treated  in  this  way, 
these  alkali  lands  often  become  the  most  valuable  portions  of  the 
farm.  There  are  comparatively  few  alkali  lands  in  the  State  that 
cannot  be  reclaimed  in  this  way. 


302  GEOLOGY. 

Hird  Pan. —  Gumbo  Soil. — One  of  the  peculiar  deposits  of  the 
State  is  known  among  the  people  as  hard  pan,  and  in  some  places 
as  gumbo  soil.  It  never  occurs  in  this  State  over  extensive  areas. 
In  some  few  counties  and  townships  it  occurs  in  spots — sometimes 
on  bottoms  and  sometimes  on  level  uplands.  The  areas  covered  by 
it  range  in  extent  from  a  few  yards  to  several  acres.  Sometimes 
these  spots  lie  slightly  below  the  general  level  of  the  land,  and  in 
places  shade  insensibly  into  what  are  known  as  clay  and  wet  lands. 
There  are  a  few  townships  in  the  south  part  of  Cedar,  Knox,  and 
the  north  part  of  Pierce  counties  where  occasional  sections  occur 
that  have  a  spotted  appearance  which  is  produced  by  these  "  gum- 
bo soils."  They  are  easily  recognized  by  the  paucity  of  the  pecu- 
liar blue  and  wire  grasses  that  cover  them.  More  rarely  they  are 
covered  by  from  two  to  six  inches  of  alluvium  or  ordinary  upland 
soil,  and  only  give  indications  of  their  presence  when  an  attempt  is 
made  at  their  cultivation.  They  "  bake  "  and  become  exceedingly 
hard  when  dried.  The  most  compact  of  these  soils  are  plowed  and 
cultivated  with  great  difficulty.  The  following  analyses  indicate 
their  composition.  The  first  is  taken  from  a  specimen  on  Salt 
Creek  bottom,  and  the  second  from  the  lower  Nemaha: 


No.  1. 

No.  2. 

Insoluble  (silicious)  matter  

27  11 

20  67 

Ferric  oxide  

4  32 

2  83 

Alumina,  clay 

50  11 

57  30 

Lime  carbonate  

8  21 

9  08 

Lime  phosphate  

1   OJ) 

88 

Magnesia  carbonate  

1  45 

1  70 

Potassa  

1.98 

(57 

Soda   

83 

1   80 

Organic  matter  

1  30 

2  01 

Moisture  .  .  ^  

2  90 

2  09 

Loss  in  analysis 

70 

87 

Total     

100  00 

100  00 

This  analysis  shows  that  these  soils  contain  clay  in  excess.  From 
many  other  analyses  which  I  made,  only  to  ascertain  the  amount 
of  clay  that  was  present,  it  was  found  to  vary  from  fifteen  to  sixty 
percent.  The  quantity  of  all  their  constituents  varies  a  great  deal, 
but  they  all  in  common  contain  a  large  amount  of  clay.  A  few 
contained  a  perceptible  quantity  of  manganese.  From  these  analy- 
ses it  is  clear  what  is  needed  to  redeem  them  or  make  them  tillable 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  303 

— they  should  he  mingled  with  silicious  matter,  and  often  the  soil 
below  them  will  answer  for  this  purpose,  as  frequently  they  are 
only  a  few  inches  thick. 

The  Bad  Lands. — These  have  already  been  discussed  and  de- 
scribed under  the  Miocene  Period.  They  deserve  a  reference  here 
because  they  constitute  all  that  there  is  of  the  surface  beyond  the 
White  Earth  River,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State.  As  al- 
ready stated,  this  section  is  made  up  of  Miocene  rocks.  The  sur- 
face materials  here  are  mostly  made  up  of  white  and  yellowish  in- 
durated clays,  sands,  marls,  and  occasional  thin  beds  of  lime  and 
sandstone.  When  going  through  these  Bad  Lands  I  observed  these 
lime  and  sandstones  to  appear  and  disappear  in  the  most  unexpected 
manner,  indicating  a  great  variety  of  conditions  under  which  they 
were  formed.  Hayden  first  made  known  these  wonderful  regions. 
It  is  hard  to  realize  the  grandeur  and  uniqueness  of  this  region 
without  visiting  it — this,  at  least,  was  the  case  with  myself. 
Here  in  the  deep  canyons,  at  the  foot  of  the  stair-like  projections, 
the  earliest  of  those  wonderful  fossil  treasures  was  found  which 
have  been  described  by  Leidy,  and  which  have  done  so  much  to 
revolutionize  our  notions  of  the  progress  of  life  and  of  Tertiary 
times. 

Agriculture  in  such  a  region  as  this,  where  comparatively  little  is 
now  growing,  is  of  course  impracticable.  The  scanty  grasses, 
however,  can  be,  and  are  beginning  to  be — at  least  on  the  borders 
of  this  region — utilized  for  pasturing  stock.  Even  here  rainfall  is 
increasing,  as  is  indicated  by  a  great  increase  in  the  quantity  of 
grass  that  is  spontaneously  produced.  Whether  this  region  can 
ever  be  utilized  for  the  purposes  of  agriculture,  even  when  once  the 
rainfall  is  sufficient,  is  a  problem  for  the  future..  Regions  as  rough 
have  been  cultivated  by  hand.  Whenever  in  the  distant  future 
population  crowds  in  this  direction,  and  the  rainfall  has  sufficiently 
increased,  even  these  Bad  Lands  can  be  fertilized,  if  they  need  fer- 
tilization, by  the  immense  quantities  of  natural  fertilizers,  such  as 
marl,  that  here  abound.  In  the  mean  time  it  will  be  utilized  for  pas- 
turing stock.  Though  this  region  is  so  unattractive  to  the  utilitar- 
ian, I  doubt  whether  any  other  equal  area  of  Nebraska  will  be  of 
more  benefit  to  mankind,  simply  because  here  we  have  outlined  so 
marvelously  the  old  life  of  Miocene  times,  and  it  must  ever  be  a 
stimulus  to  geological  studies,  and  those  grand  results  which  scien- 
tific culture  produces.  No  novel  can  be  as  interesting  to  a  thought- 


304  GEOLOGY. 

ful  mind  as  Hayden's  and  Leidy's  descriptions  of  these  Bad  Lands 
and  their  animal  remains. 

FUEL  FROM  THE  SURFACE-DEPOSITS. 

It  is  not  yet  absolutely  settled,  as  already  stated,  how  much  de- 
pendence can  be  placed  on  the  coal-supplies  of  the  Carboniferous, 
Cretaceous,  and  Tertiary  deposits,  in  each  of  which  thin  beds  have 
been  found  and  worked  to  a  limited  extent.  Hayden  and  Meek  in- 
cline to  the  opinion  that  no  beds  of  coal  thick  enough  and  of  suffi- 
ciently good  quality  to  be  profitably  worked  will  be  found  in  the 
State.  (Hayden's  Report  for  1870,  p.  134,  etc.)  This  subject  has 
already  been  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  Carboniferous  Age. 
There  is,  however,  no  question  about  the  great  quantity  of  peat  in 
Nebraska,  which  subject  is  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 

Wafer  Resources  of  Nebraska. — This  subject,  which  would  natu- 
rally come  in  here,  is  omitted  in  this  connection,  as  it  has  already- 
been  fully  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  Physical  Geography. 

Timber  in  Modern  Geological  Times. — It  is  natural  to  suppose 
from  well-known  natural  causes  that  when  the  Loess  age  was- 
drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  lower  portions  of  the  area  covered  by 
these  deposits  were  yet  in  a  condition  of  a  bog,  the  climate  was  much 
more  favorable  than  the  present  for  the  growth  of  timber.  Rain- 
fall and  moisture  in  the  atmosphere  must  then  have  been  much 
more  abundant.  In  July,  1868,  while  walking  along  the  edge  of 
one  of  the  Logan  peat-bogs  in  Cedar  County,  my  Jacob  staff  struck 
some  hard  body  in  the  peat.  Examining  it  more  closely  I  found  a 
log  buried  in  the  peat  at  least  sixty  feet  in  length.  Following  up 
this  discovery  with  a  careful  search,  I  found  in  this  and  other  bogs 
a  great  many  buried  logs  of  various  length  and  thickness.  Most  of 
them  were  found  where  there  was  no  existing  timber  within  twenty 
miles,  and  from  which  they  could  not  have  floated  in  flood- times, 
I  regret  that  I  had  no  means  of  extricating  some  of  those  logs,  and 
ascertaining  the  species  to  which  they  belonged.  That  would  no 
doubt  have  thrown  much  light  on  the  changes  that  haye  taken 
place  since  they  were  buried  in  the  bog.  But  they  evidently  grew 
on  the  shores  or  banks,  and  after  falling  into  the  bog  they  were 
protected  from  decay  by  the  well-known  antiseptic  properties  of 
peaty  waters.  Another  fact  that  shows  the  greater  prevalence  of 
timber  within  geologically  recent  times  is  the  remnants  of  old  pine 
forests  yet  buried  in  the  ground.  In  the  summer  of  1868,  when 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  305 

traveling  along  and  near  the  Niobrara,  roots  of  pine  trees  were 
often  found  sticking  in  the  ground,  more  than  fifty  miles  south  and 
east  of  the  present  forests  of  this  timber.  Often  did  these  old  roots 
furnish  me  with  the  materials  of  a  camp  fire.  At  no  very  remote 
period  pine  forests  must  have  flourished  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Niobrara.  Many  other  facts,  of  a  similar  character,  seem  to  leave 
no  room  to  doubt  that  in  geologically  recent  times  far  more  exten- 
sive forests  prevailed  all  over  Nebraska  than  those  which  now  oc- 
cupy the  ground.  What  caused  their  disappearance  can,  perhaps, 
not  be  certainly  determined.  Some  geologists  hold  that  the  in- 
creasing dryness  of  the  climate  caused  the  disappearance  of  any  old 
forests  that  might  have  existed.  But  might  not  the  converse  of  this 
also  have  been  true  here,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  namely,  that  the  de- 
struction of  forests  inaugurated  the  dry  climate  that  prevailed  when 
thU  territory  was  first  explored?  It  is  at  least  conceivable  that  the 
primitive  forest  received  its  death-blow  in  a  dry  summer  by  fire, 
through  the  vandal  acts  of  Indians  in  pursuit  of  game  or  for  pur- 
poses of  war.  What  suggested  this  theory  as  a  possible  explanation 
of  the  disappearance  of  forests  on  this  territory,  was  the  finding  of 
pine  roots  before  referred  to,  and  often,  when  partially,  buried, 
showing  marks  of  fire  from  carbonized  ends,  and  in  localities  so 
sandy,  and  where  vegetation  was  so  scant,  that  an  ordinary  prai- 
rie fire  was  out  of  the  question.  An  old  tradition  that  I  once  heard 
from  the  Omaha  Indians  points  to  the  same  conclusion. 

It  is  wonderful  how  nature  here  responds  to  the  efforts  of  men 
for  reclothing  this  territory  with  timber.  Man  thus  becomes  am 
efficient  agent  for  the  production  of  geological  changes.  As  prai- 
rie fires  are  repressed  and  trees  are  planted  by  the  million,  the  cli- 
mate must  be  still  further  ameliorated.  When  once  there  are- 
groves  of  timber  on  every  section  or  quarter- section  of  land  in  the 
State,  an  approach  will  be  made  to  some  of  the  best  physical  con- 
ditions of  Tertiary  times.  The  people  of  this  new  State  have  a- 
wonderful  inheritance  of  wealth,  beauty  and  power  in  their  fine 
climate  and  their  rich  lands,  and  as  they  become  conscious  of  this 
they  will  more  and  more  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  processes  of 
nature  for  the  development  and  utilization  of  the  material  wealth  of 
Nebraska. 

Causes  of  Changes  of  Climatic  Conditions  During  the  Quaternary 
Age. — Every  geologist  has  noted  the  fact  that  there  have  been  very- 
many  changes  of  climate  during  the  progress  of  the  worl<JV  history,. 

20 


306  GEOLOGY. 

Even  in  Arctic  regions  there  are  many  evidences  of  the  prevalence 
at  different  times  in  the  past  of  temperate  and  even  semi-tropical 
climates.  In  Grinnell  Land  Dr.  Hayes  obtained  corals  and  cham- 
bered shells,  which  indicate  that  warm  oceans  once  obtained  there. 
The  adjoining  lands  at  the  same  time  nourished  a  most  luxuriant 
vegetation.  We  have  seen  that  in  our  own  State  there  have  been, 
even  in  Cenozoic  times,  semi-tropical  conditions,  which  very  grad- 
ually disappeared  and  gave  place  to  Arctic  and  again  to  warm, 
temperate  climates.  It  is  a  fact,  therefore,  that  climates  rotate 
throughout  the  geologic  ages.  The  old  idea  that  the  earlier  warm 
climates  were  produced  mainly  by  the  then  higher  temperature  of 
the  interior  of  the  globe,  and  that  the  colder  modern  conditions 
have  been  brought  about  principally  by  gradual  cooling  of  its  mass, 
is  now  almost  universally  abandoned.  The  earth  still  radiates  heat, 
as  it  always  has  done,  but  its  effects  are  not  now — and  it  is  doubtful 
whether,  during  recorded  geological  time,  it  has  been  perceptible. 
In  all  times  climates  have  varied  in  proportion  to  the  heat  which 
the  globe  received,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  sun.  Even  in 
the  Silurian  the  climates  were  probably  as  well  marked  as  now. 
The  question  then  eventually  rises,  what  is  it  that  causes  the  varia- 
tions in  the  climates  of  the  globe?  My  limits  only  permit  me  to 
refer  to  those  explanations  that  have  received  the  most  attention, 
and  which,  in  my  judgment,  are  the  most  probable. 

The  theory  accounting  for  climatic  changes  which  has  been  sanc- 
tioned by  the  greatest  number  of  geologists  during  this  generation 
:was  proposed  and  defended  by  that  prince  among  naturalists,  Lyell. 
He  referred  to  the  admitted  fact  that  through  the  geological  ages  sea 
.and  land  have  many  times  changed  places— that  it  is  hard  to  find  a 
place  where  the  billows  of  the  ocean  did  not  formerly  roll — that  all 
the  strata  formed  since  the  opening  Laurentian  are  only  so  many 
fossil  sea  bottoms.  Even  now  some  coast  lines  are  sinking  and 
others  are  rising,  and  a  continuation  of  these  changes  will  engulf 
some  existing  lands  and  raise  some  sea  bottoms  above  the  water. 
Even  the  relative  levels  of  closely-joining  land  masses  slowly  change 
in  this  way.  When,  therefore,  we  are  required  by  Lyell's  theory 
to  believe  that  the  relative  distribution,  of  land  and  water  was  form- 
erly very  different  from  what  it  is  now,  no  one  questions  the  facts 
on  which  this  theory  is  based.  If  now  such  changes  were  brought 
about  that  the  principal  land  masses  should  be  placed  in  equatorial 
regions,  the  mean  temperature  of  such  high  northern  lands  as  were 


QUATERNARY    AGE.  307 

left  would  be  raised  sufficiently  to  produce  the  cypress,  sequoia,  fig 
tree,  and  even  the  palm.     Such  a  vegetation  under   these  circum- 
stances might  flourish  within  the  Arctic  circle.     A  heated  equator 
would  send  warm  currents  of  air  and  water  to  heat  up  the  polar  re- 
gions.    Some  such   conditions  Lyell  thought  existed,  for  example, 
during  the  Miocene,  or  earlier  still  during  the  Carboniferous,  when 
tree  ferns  grew  on  islands  in  Arctic  regions.     Lyell  considered  the 
atmosphere  to  be  the   chief  instrument  for  the  distribution  of  heat. 
On  the  other  hand  the  prevalence  of  polar  continents  and  an  oceanic 
equator  produced  arctic  conditions  in  all  high  latitudes.     The  pro- 
gress of  discovery,  however,  has  brought  to  light  many  facts  which 
cannot  well  be  reconciled  with  this  theory.     Among  these  facts  are 
intercallated  beds  representing    mild    conditions    of  climate  in  the 
midst  of  and  during  glacial  times.     The  most  conspicuous  example 
of  this  is  the   Old   Forest   Bed  already  spoken  of.     Even  in  Arctic 
regions  tree  trunks  have  been  found  in  the  midst  of  glacial  debris* 
It  is  also  questionable  whether  the  atmosphere  flowing  northward 
from  tropical  land  masses  would  heat  up  the  poles.     Its  heat  would 
be  dissipated  long  before  reaching  the  extreme  north.    At  the  pres- 
ent day  western  America  receives  its   high  temperature,  not  from 
the  tropical  winds,  but  from  the  breezes  that  blow  over  the  Japan 
current,  as  western  Europe  is  warmed  by  the  Gulf  Stream.     East- 
ern Europe  and  Asia  receive  no  benefit  from  these  warm  winds — 
they  are  cooled  long  before  they  reach  the  great  interior.     It  is  also 
•extremely  questionable  whether  there  ever  was  exactly,  or  even  ap- 
proximately, such  a  distribution  of  land  and  water  as  this  theory 
calls  for.     Many  other  objections  are  urged  against  Lyell's  theory. 
Geologists,    therefore,    now    look    for    the  causes    which   produce 
•changes  of  climate  to  cosmical  rather  than  to  terrestrial   influences. 
The  cosmical  theory  that  would    explain  the  phenomena  of  cli- 
mate that  is  now  receiving  most  attention  was  proposed  by  and  is 
still  ably  defended  by  James  Croll,  and  is  also  maintained  by  James 
Geike,   both    connected    with   the  Geological  Survey  of  Scotland. 
According  to  this  theory,  two  causes    are    chiefly    operative — the 
changing  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  and  the  precession  of  the 
equinoxes.     Leverier's  calculations  make  "the  superior  limit  of  the 
earth's  eccentricity    0-07775-"     At  the  present  time  it  is  lessening, 
and  will  continue  to  do  so  for  23,900  years,  when  its  value  will  be 
-.0031 4;  after  which  it  will  again  increase.     These  changes  of  ecccn- 

*See  James  Geike's  Groat  Ice  Age,  page  462. 


308  GEOLOGY. 

tricity  may  affect  climate  in  two  ways.     "  It  may  increase  or  dimin- 
ish   the   difference    between    the    summer   and    winter    tempera- 
ture."    Take   for    example   the   second    case.     When  the   eccen- 
tricity is   greatest  the    distance    of  the    earth  from  the  sun,  when 
in    aphelion,   or    farthest   away,  is    98,506,350  miles;    and    when 
in  perihelion,  or  nearest  to  the  sun,  it  is  only  84,293,650  miles.    The 
earth  is,  therefore,  during  such  times,  14,212,700  miles  further  from 
the  sun  in  aphelion  than  when  in  perihelion.     This  is  a  greater  dif- 
ference by  many  millions  of  miles  than  now  obtains.     During  such 
a   period    of  high  eccentricity  when    winter   occurs  in    aphelion, 
it  is  also    longer   by  36  days    than    the    summer.     At  the  present 
time   the   difference   between  the    length  of  winter  and   summer 
(from  the  22d  of  September  to  the   2oth  of  March,  and  from   the 
latter  date  to  the  22d  of   September)  is  only  seven  or  eight  days. 
Given,  therefore,  a  winter  36  days   longer  than   the  present,  with 
the  sun  from  8,000,000  to  14,000,000  of  miles  further  away  from  the 
earth  than  now,  and  the  mean  temperature  of  the  globe  would  not, 
indeed,  be  greatly  lowered,  but  the  conditions  of  its  reception  would 
be  vastly  different.     One-fifth  less  heat  would  be  received  in  winter 
and  one-fifth   more  in  summer,  which  latter  would  be  exceedingly 
short.     A  long,  cold  winter  and  a  short,  hot  summer  would  be  the 
result  (Croll).     What  snows  fell  during  autumn,  winter  and  spring, 
would  not  be  dissipated  by  the  short,  hot   summer.     Snow  would 
accumulate  and  gradually  form  glaciers  of  immense  thickness.     Art 
indirect  result    affecting  climate  greatly  would  be  a  change  of  the 
oceans'    circulation.     The  warm   currents  that  now  lave  northern 
zones  would  be  largely  excluded  from   the  glaciated  hemisphere. 
While,   however,  one   hemisphere  would   be   glaciated,    the    other 
would  have   its  winter  in  perihelion  and   its  summer  in  aphelion. 
This  condition,  according  to  Croll  and  Herschel,  would  "  annihilate 
the  difference  between  winter  and  summer  in  temperate  latitudes." 
*  Owing  to  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes," these  conditions  would 
change  from  north   to  south  of  the  equator  every  10,500  years,  or 
thereabouts.     Such    periods    of  high    eccentricity    occurred    three 
times  during    the  last    3,000,000  years — the  last  one  commencing 
240,000  years  ago  and  ending  80,000  years  ago,  embracing  a  period 
of  160,000  years.     The    cold  and   glaciation  was   most  intense  be- 
tween 30,000  and  40,000  years  after  it  commenced.'     (Geike.) 

As  the  earth's  orbit  will  continue   to    grow    less    eccentric   for 
23,900  years,  during  that  time,  at  least,  if  this  theory  for  the  pro 


ECONOMICAL   GEOLOGY.  309 

duction  of  varying  climates  is  correct,  the  extremes  of  temperature 
\vill  also  gradually  become  less,  and  continually  milder  conditions 
will  prevail.  All  the  changes  that  may  occur  hereafter,  therefore, 
for  a  k>ng  period  will  be  favorable,  and  the  globe  as  a  whole  be? 
come  more  and  more  fitted  for  a  theatre  for  the  development  of 
mind  and  morals. 

Even  if  this  explanation  of  the  causes  of  climatic  changes  is  not 
the  correct  one,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  some  cosmical  influ- 
ences will  in  the  end  be  found  to  furnish  the  key  to  unlock  the 
mysteries  of  these  changing  phenomena. 


CHAPTER  X, 

ECONOMICAL  GEOLOGY. 

Coal,  Bituminous  and  Lignite. — Peat,  its  Quantity,  Quality,  and  Where 
and  How  Formed.— Building  Stone,  Where  and  How  Found;  their  Charac- 
ter at  South  Bend. — Building  Stone  in  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary. — Lime 
and  Hydraulic  Cement. — Its  Manufacture  at  Beatrice.  Brick  Clay. — Fire 
Clay.— Potters'  Clay;  Sections  and  Character  of  at  Louisville — Kaolin. — 
Oypsum,  Where  Found  and  How  it  Occurs. — Silica,  its  Great  Extent  and 
Character. — Iron  Ores. — Zinc  and  Lead. — Gold. — Marl  Beds. — Salt,  Where 
and  How  it  Occurs. — Artesian  Well  in  Lincoln  and  its  Medicinal  Character. 
Artesian  Wells  over  the  State;  their  Future  Value  and  Importance. 

Coal. — Bituminous  coal  has  already  been  discussed  in  the  chap- 
ter on  the  Carboniferous  measures;  and  lignite  coal  in  the  chapter 
on  the  Cretaceous  deposits. 

Peat. — There  is  no  question  about  the  great  quantity  of  peat  in 
Nebraska.  Hayden  mentions  many  localities  where  it  is  found. 
•(Report  for  1867,  1868,  and  1869.)  It  is  also  found  on  the  tributar- 
ies and  head-waters  of  the  Logan,  the  Elkhorn,  the  Blue,  and  on 
Stinking  River,  and  other  tributaries  of  the  Republican.  Great 
quantities  are  also  found  in  Boone  County,  on  the  Loups,  and  on 
their  tributaries.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  a  township  in  some  sec- 
tions of  the  State  that  does  not  contain  some  peat-bogs.  When 
people  once  learn  its  value,  and  more  attention  is  directed  to  it,  it 
will  be  found  where  now  it  is  not  expected.  One  peat-bog  on  the 


310  GEOLOGY. 

Logan  (township  28  north,  i  and  2  east)  is  five  or  six  miles  in  lengths 
and  of  variable  breadth.  I  could  find  no  bottom  to  this  bog  with  a 
fifteen-foot  pole.  This  peat  I  personally  tested  and  found  to  be  of 
excellent  quality.  In  fact,  nearly  all  the  peat  that  I  have  tested  in 
this  State  is  fully  up  to  the  average  in  quality.  A  singularly  good 
article  is  found  at  Pittsburgh,  on  the  Blue  River,  where  the  deposit 
is  also  quite  extensive.  Among  the  animal  remains  submitted  to- 
me for  examination  from  this  bed  was  the  molar  tooth  of  the  gi- 
gantic beaver  (Castor  ohioensis),  proving  that  this  animal  existed  in 
Nebraska  in  times  geologically  recent.  The  most  of  the  peat  beds 
that  I  have  examined  seem  to  have  been  formed  in  lakelets  that 
gradually  became  bogs  by  an  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter  de- 
rived from  coarse  grasses,  sedges,  rushes,  polygonums,  duck- weeds,, 
pond-weeds,  arrow- weed,  etc.,  lilies,  etc.  Sphagnum  which  seems 
to  form  the  mass  of  organic  matter  in  peat-bogs  of  granitic  and  sili- 
cious  districts,  only  occurs  in  Nebraska  in  a  bog  near  Curlew,  in  Ce- 
dar County,  and  one  or  two  other  places  in  the  same  region.  At  least 
I  found  it  nowhere  else.  Many  of  these  peat-bogs  are  now  so  far- 
advanced  as  to  be  dry  enough  to  be  wagoned  over  in  midsummer,, 
but  through  the  middle  of  which  a  stream  of  water  is  still  flowing.. 
Others  have  no  visible  outlet,  but  retain  the  water  poured  into 
them,  when  the  spring  and  June  rains  fall,  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year,  and  thus  supply  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  peculiar 
vegetation  of  such  formations.  Sometimes,  too,  depressions  in  the 
surface  where  peat  is  forming  are  supplied  with  moisture  from  ever- 
flowing  springs.  The  beginnings  of  many  of  these  peat-beds  date 
back  at  least  to  the  close  of  the  Loess  age,  so  that  sufficient  time 
has  elapsed  for  the  accumulation  of  great  quantities  of  this  material.. 
Peat  can  be  cheaply  taken  out  of  a  bog  with  a  spade,  and  laid  up 
like  cord-wood  tinder  cover  to  dry,  when  it  is  ready  for  use.  The 
objections  to  using  it  thus  prepared  is  its  liability  to  crumble.  Un- 
fortunately, to  prepare  it  by  molding  and  pressing  requires  some 
capital  for  apparatus,  and  this  is  one  reason  why  these  beds  have 
not  yet  been  worked.  In  some  places,  too,  wood-fuel  is  yet  cheap,, 
and  in  others  coal  from  abroad  is  easily  obtained,  and  these  causes 
have  also  operated  to  delay  the  use  of  peat  for  fuel.  But  such 
treasures  cannot  remain  unused  forever.  Eventually  this  peat  must 
be  utilized,  and  if  it  is  cheaply  furnished,  as  it  can  be,  the  State  will 
be  supplied  for  a  long  time  from  its  own  territory  for  manufactur- 
ing purposes  and  domestic  use,  with  all  the  fuel  needed.  (For  an* 


ECONOMICAL    GEOLOGY.  311 

able  discussion  of  peat  in  Nebraska,  see  Hayden's  Final  Report  of 
Geological  Survey  of  Nebraska,  p.  69.) 

Building  S'ones. — In  portions  of  Nebraska  building  stones  are 
abundant.  In  the  central  and  western  portions  of  the  State  they 
are  difficult  to  obtain,  owing  to  the  great  thickness  of  the  superfi- 
cial deposits,  which  must  be  removed  in  order  to  reach  the  underly- 
ing rocks.  This  is  easiest  done  along  the  edge  of  bluffs  or  ravines, 
where  they  are  often  partially  exposed. 

The  Carboniferous  section  of  the  State  is,  on  the  whole,  the  rich- 
est in  building  stones.  Here  limestones,  silicious  limestones,  and 
many  kinds  of  sandstones  of  all  shades  and  colors  abound.  In 
Richardson  County  there  are  many  fine  quarries,  and  those  at  Sa- 
lem are  among  the  best.  Here  two  beds  of  limestone  are  exposed, 
which  generally  extend  under  the  superficial  deposits.  These  strata 
are  exposed  in  many  other  places  in  this  county.  In  Pawnee 
County  the  building  stone  is  still  more  abundant.  Beds  from  six 
inches  to  two  feet  in  thickness  crop  out  on  hill-sides  in  many  places. 
One  of  the  best  crops  out  about  eight  miles  west  of  Pawnee  City» 
It  is  cream  colored,  and  soft,  but  of  great  tenacity.  It  is  a  fusulina 
limestone,  can  be  worked  into  any  form  with  ease,  and  is  a  great 
favorite  with  builders.  Hay  den  regards  it  as  of  Permo-Carbonifer- 
ous  age.  In  Gage  County  there  are  various  beds  of  soft,  yellow 
limestone,  full  of  geode  cavities,  porous  and  spongy;  and  also  of 
compact  limestone,  which  are  used  for  building  purposes. 

Johnson  County  contains  a  silicious  limestone  of  various  thick- 
ness, which  is  almost  wholly  composed  of  fusulina.  The  court 
house  in  Tecumseh,  is  constructed  of  this  material.  It  is  exposed 
at  many  places  along  the  hillsides,  and  is  easily  quarried  and 
worked.  In  Nemaha  and  Otoe  counties,  along  the  Missouri 
River,  there  are  various  beds  of  stone  that  are  quarried  and  used 
for  building.  One  of  these  is  a  limestone,  and  at  Peru  it  occurs 
near  the  top  of  the  bluffs.  .Further  down  at  Brownville,  there  is  a 
bed  of  limestone  three  feet  thick,  of  very  superior  quality  for  build- 
ing purposes.  Fine-grained,  micaceous  sandstone  that  readily 
cleaves  into  flags,  also  exists  here.  Towards  the  center  of  the 
county  some  fine  quarries  have  been  opened.  The  church  at  Feb- 
ing  is  an  example  of  the  quality  of  its  stone  and  its  fine  architectural 
effect.  Similar  exposures  of  rock,  suitable  for  building  materials, 
occur  along  the  Missouri  through  Otoe  and  Cass  counties.  One  of 
the  best  is  below  Plattsmouth,  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri.  Here 


312  GEOLOGY. 

are.  some  of  the  finest  massive  limestones  in  the  State.  The  upper 
surface,  where  the  superficial  deposits  aie  removed,  are  worn  as 
smooth  as  mirrors,  and  exhibit  the  parallel  striae  so  characteristic  of 
glacial  action.  Unfortunately,  the  great  thickness  of  the  superfic- 
ial deposits  here  makes  these  quarries  expensive  in  working.  At 
•La  Platte,  near  the  line  of  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  Railroad, 
there  is  another  remarkable  quarry  of  fine-grained,  slightly  silicious 
limestone.  It  contains  innumerable  impressions  of  fusulinas.  The 
government  architects  selected  the  stones  from  this  quarry  with 
which  to  build  the  United  States  post-office  and  court  house  in  Lin- 
coln. It  successfully  stood  the  severest  mechanical  and  chemical 
tests.  Farther  up  the  Platte  and  on  its  north  side,  opposite  South 
Bend,  W.  B.  Stout,  Esq.,  has  opened  a  new  quarry  during  the  last 
year.  Here  occur  several  strata  of  unusually  massive  limestone, 
one,  of  which,  eighteen  inches  thick,  is  partially  oolitic  and  partly 
filled  with  fusulina.  Near  the  middle  there  is  a  layer  of  intensely 
liard  nodules  of  silicious  matter.  The  limestones  in  this  quarry  are 
of  exceptional  purity.  They  take  a  very  fine  polish.  On  the 
whole,  it  is  the  best  stone  quarry  that  I  have  yet  visited  in  the 
State.  Some  of  the  piers  in  the  new  railroad  bridge  at  Plattsmouth 
were  constructed  of  this  stone.  The  contractor'  is  also  using  it  in 
the  construction  of  the  new  capitol  wing  at  Lincoln.  Other  fine 
quarries  are  also  opened  on  the  south  side  of  the  Platte  in  strata  of 
a  similar  character.  East  of  Lincoln,  on  the  Nebraska  railroad,  at 
Syracuse  and  at  other  points,  there  are  quarries  of  impure,  variously 
colored  limestone  of  considerable  thickness,  from  which  immense 
quantities  of  building  stones  have  been  obtained.  From  these 
quarries  and  from  similar  ones  on  the  Atchison  &  Nebraska  Rail- 
road, a  little  southeast  of  Lincoln,  the*stones  were  quarried  for  the 
State  penitentiary. 

The  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Nebraska  also  furnish  a  large  quantity 
of  excellent  building  stone.  Those  of  the  Dakota  Group  are  mostly 
silicious.  They  are  of  all  shades  of  yellow  and  brown,  sometimes 
approaching  to  a  cream  color  and  white.  They  furnish  the  hardest 
and  the  softest  stone  in  the  State.  The  softer  varieties  are  unfit  for 
building  stone.  Large  quantities,  however,  are  a  medium  between 
the  two  extremes,  and  are  very  valuable  for  smaller  structures, 
owing  to  the  ease  with  which  they  can  be  quarried  and  dressed. 
In  Dakota  County,  in  this. group,  occurs  the  intensely  hard  quartz- 
ite  which  has  been  used  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  for  the  foundation  of 


ECONOMICAL    GEOLOGY.  313 

some  of  their  largest  brick  blocks.  The  best  quarry  of  it  that  I 
have  examined  is  that  of  Hon.  J.  Warner  in  Dakota  County.  This 
group  also  furnishes  building  stones  in  portions  of  Dixon,  Burt, 
Dodge,  Washington,  Saunders,  Lancaster  and  Gage  Counties. 
The  rocks  of  the  Niobrara  Group  which  occur  above  those  last 
mentioned  are  mostly  limestone  more  or  less  pure.  One  of  its  beds 
called  from  the  abundance  of  its  fossils  the  Inoceramus  bed,  often 
breaks  up  into  flagging  stone.  It  forms  good  building  materials, 
is  easily  worked,  and  is  capable  of  resisting  great  pressure.  Along 
the  Missouri  it  is  first  seen  on  the  hill  tops  in  Dakota  County,  and 
increases  in  thickness  northward  and  westward.  It  extends  in  a 
southwestern  direction  across  the  State  into  Kansas.  Over  the  In- 
oceramus beds  in  Cedar  and  Knox  counties,  there  is  an  immense 
thickness  of  massive  chalk  rock.  In  a  few  places  it  is  almost  as 
pure  as  the  chalk  of  commerce.  It  varies  in  color  from  light  blue, 
and  the  various  shades  of  yellow,  to  almost  white.  It  can  be  easily 
sawed  and  planed  into  any  shape.  Though  soft,  it  does  not  disin- 
tegrate on  exposure,  but  appears  when  exposed  to  grow  harder 
with  age.  Some  houses  built  of  it  on  the  Santee  Agency  in  Knox 
County,  twenty  years  ago,  show  no  sign  of  crumbling.  Some 
equally  old  houses,  built  of  this  chalk  rock,  in  Yankton,  D.  T.,  are 
still  intact.  The  various  rocks  of  the  Niobrara  Group  furnish  build- 
ing materials  in  Cedar,  Knox,  Wayne,  Cuming,  Colfax,  Stanton, 
Butter,  Saunders,  Seward,  Jefferson,  Nuckolls,  Webster,  Franklin, 
and  some  other  counties. 

West  of  the  Cretaceous  deposits  the  Tertiary  beds  occupy  the 
State  to  its  very  borders.  The  superficial  deposits  here  generally 
conceal  the  rocks,  but  as  already  observed  where  they  are  exposed, 
there  are  some  silicious  beds,  and  silicates  of  lime  that  answer  for 
foundation  stone.  This  is  notably  the  case  along  the  Republican 
River  and  its  tributaries,  and  on  some  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Loup 
and  the  Niobrara.  But  this  section  of  the  State  has  not  yet  been 
sufficiently  explored  to  indicate  sharply  where  building  stones  may 
be  found. 

LIME  AND  HYDRAULIC  CEMENT. 

As  already  stated,  limestone  is  abundant  in  the  Carboniferous 
and  Permo-Carboniferous  measures  of  the  State.  The  Niobrara 
Group  also  furnishes  an  unlimited  supply  of  it.  A  curious  phenom- 
enon of  the  limestone  of  the  Carboniferous  and  Permo-Carbonifer- 
ous, is  that  nearly  all  of  it  is  more  or  less  hydraulic.  This  is  proba- 


314    •  GEOLOGY. 

bly  owing  to  the  presence  of  greater  or  less  quantities  of  carbonate 
of  magnesia,  and  a  little  alumina.  In  some  sections  the  hydraulic 
limestone  is  of  very  good  quality.  At  Beatrice  its  manufacture  was 
for  some  time  conducted,  but  owing  to  various  causes  it  has  been 
temporarily  suspended.  All  the  work  done  with  this  cement  has 
stood  the  test  of  time.  Owing  to  inadequate  appliances  it  was  not 
sufficiently  pulverized,  but  that  defect  will  be  remedied  when  its 
manufacture  will  be  resumed.  This  will  probably  be  done  during 
the  coming  season.  Sooner  or  later  it  must  become  an  important 
industry  of  the  place  and  the  State. 

Btick  Clay  of  good  quality  exists  in  every  part  of  the  State.  The 
Loess  deposits  which  are  so  widely  distributed  over  the  State  fur- 
nish it  in  abundance.  The  only  precaution  needed  is  to  select  it 
where  there  are  no  concretions  of  lime.  Beneath  the  Loess  and 
the  adjoining  drift  in  many  places  is  a  greater  or  less  thickness  of 
clay  of  glacial  age  that  makes  first-class  brick.  There  are  also  oc- 
casional strata  in  the  alluviums  of  the  river  bottoms  that  furnish 
brick  clay  in  abundance. 

fire  Clay  is  also  abundant.  It  underlies  and  sometimes  overlies 
the  thin  beds  of  coal  in  southeastern  Nebraska,  and  is  found  at  long 
intervals  in  other  sections  of  the  State. 

Potters1  Clay  is  occasionally  found  in  the  alluvium.  Informer 
years  a  bed  was  worked  on  the  Missouri  bottom,  east  of  Dakota 
City.  The  best  now  known  or  worked  is  located  at  Louisville,  in. 
Cass  County.  The  following  is  a  section: 

1.  Loess ,.;.'. .-..>  3  feet. 

2.  Ked  rock ;   Dakota  Group < 2  to  3    " 

3.  Potters'  clay,  of  greyish  white  color,  with  streaks  of  pure  white 

sand  from  one  to  eight  inches  thick 20    " 

The  bottom  of  this  clay  has  not  yet  been  reached.  Three  miles 
east  of  this  bed  another  occurs  of  which  the  following  is  a  section: 

1 .  Black  soil 2  feet, 

2.  Bluish  potters'  clay  .with  lime  concretions  towards  the  top 12    " 

One  mile  and  a  half  northeast  of  the  first  another  bed  occurs.  The 
following  is  a  section : 

1.  Black  soil 5  inches. 

2.  Reddish  earth 18      " 

3.  Potters'  clay,  exposed 6  feet. 


ECONOMICAL    GEOLOGY.  315 

A  fine  article  of  stone  pottery  is  now  turned  out  at  this  place 
which,  because  of  its  excellence,  has  a  large  sale.  The  third  sec- 
tion now  furnishes  the  greater  part  of  the  clay  that  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  pottery.  It  is  not  quite  so  light  colored  as  that 
from  the  first,  but  fewer  cracks  occur  in  burning.  Similar  beds- 
that  can  be  utilized  in  this  way  no  doubt  occur  elsewhere  in  the 
huge  beds  of  blue  clay  that  abound  in  the  State. 

Kaolin  has  been  reported  from  various  parts  of  the  State.  The 
best  that  I  have  seen  is  that  from  Webster  County,  and  from 
Louisville,  in  Cass  County,  on  the  line  of  the  Burlington  &  Mis 
souri  Railroad.  The  latter  is  in  conjunction  with  the  potters'  clay- 
already  spoken  of.  From  its  chemical  constitution  it  will  no  doubt 
stand  the  test  of  expeiience. 

Gypsum  (sulphate  of  lime)  exists  in  many  places  in  the  Cretace- 
ous measures  of  the  State.  In  Northern  Nebraska,  and  especially 
in  Dakota,  Dixon,  Cedar  and  Knox  Counties,  along  the  Missouri 
bluffs,  there  are  innumerable  crystals  in  leaf-like  forms.  Often 
they  assume  the  shape  of  a  cross.  No  other  localities  in  the  Union 
furnish  more  beautiful  forms.  Generally  they  are  transparent,, 
though  occasionally  coated  with  oxides  of  iron.  In  the  Fort  Pierre 
Group,  exposed  on  the  hill  tops  near  the  town  of  Niobrara,  and  on 
the  Republican,  these  crystals  glimmer  in  the  distance,  and  have 
^iven  the  name  of  Shining  Hills  to  the  country  further  up  the 
Missouri. 

Mineral  Paint — Ochre. — Along  the  Missouri  from  Plattsmouth 
to  Brownville,  and  further  down,  there  are  immense  deposits  of 
mineral  paint,  or  ochre.  It  is  of  different  hues — dull  red,  various 
shades  of  brown,  yellow,  and  other  colors,  according  to  the  amount 
of  iron  that  is  present.  Some  of  the  beds  are  from  three  to  five 
feet  thick,  and  of  as  fine  a  quality  as  any  in  the  market.  There  are 
also  large  beds  of  ochre  in  the  Cretaceous  deposits  along  the  Re- 
publican and  on  the  Missouri  in  northwestern  Nebraska.  As  flax 
culture  is  one  of  the  most  successful  industries  in  the  State,  because 
of  the  ease  with  which  it  is  grown  and  its  superior  quality,  the 
manufacture  of  mineral  paint  can  be  inaugurated  on  a  large  and 
profitable  scale,  especially  as  oil  mills  and  white  lead  works  are  in- 
successful  operation  in  Omaha. 

Silica. — Although  silica  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  of  minerals, 
it  is  rarely  found  in  so  fine  a  state  as  in  some  sections  of  Nebraska- 
Some  most  remarkable  deposits  of  it  exist  along  the  Republican* 


316  GEOLOGY. 

These  are  often  in  combination  with  alkalies,  and  have  already 
"been  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  the  Pliocene.  Fine  beds  also  exist 
-on  the  Loup,  Elkhorn,  Logan,  and  Oak  Creek.  The  great  beds 
of  sand  on  the  Platte  contain  some  organic  matter,  and  the  sand 
itself  is  contaminated  more  or  less  with  iron,  which  is  the  character 
of  many  other  deposits  in  the  State.  The  beds  on  the  Elkhorn 
above  West  Point  are  noteworthy  for  their  purity.  The  drift  in 
-many  places  abounds  in  beds  of  pure  sand,  and  the  principal  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  it  comes  from  the  thickness  of  the  overlying 
Loess.  In  the  Pliocene  Tertiary  region  where  cuts,  ravines  or 
bluffs  exist,  all  grades  from  very  fine  to  coarse  can  readily  be  ob- 
tained. 

Lithographic  Stone,  of  Upper  Carboniferous  age,  exists  near  Syra- 
cuse, in  Otoe  County.  It  is  of  medium  quality.  The  extent  of  the 
deposit  has  not  yet  been  ascertained,  but  the  indications  are  that  it 
may  be  sufficient  to  make  it  of  mercantile  importance. 

Iron  Ores  have  not  yet  been  found  in  beds  thick  enough  to  work. 
The  limenite  of  the  Dakota  Group,  which  is  the  best  ore  in  the 
State  so  far  as  known,  occurs  only  in  thin  layers  of  a  few  inches  in 
thickness. 

Zinc  and  Lead  are  frequently  found  in  small  quantities,  but  no- 
where yet  has  enough  been  obtained  to  justify  extensive  prospect- 
ing. The  geological  indications  are  not  favorable  for  their  presence 
in  large  quantities  any  where  in  the  State. 

Gold  in  minute  quantities  is  occasionally  found  in  the  sands  of 
the  Platte,  Nebraska,  and  other^  streams.  But  as  our  geological 
formations  are  all  more  recent  than  those  producing  gold,  we  have 
no  scientific  reason  to  suspect  its  existence  within  our  borders.  The 
.minute  quantities  along  our  river  beds  no  doubt  came  from  the 
mountains  by  drift  agencies. 

Marl  Beds  are  exceedingly  abundant  in  some  sections  of  West- 
ern Nebraska.  They  are  specially  characteristic  of  the  Tertiary 
deposits,  and  vary  a  great  deal  in  character  and  in  appearance. 
The  dominant  colors  are  greenish,  yellowish,  and  whitish.  They 
.are  beautifully  exposed  on  the  driftwood  south  of  Culbertson,  close 
by  the  river  bank.  Here  there  are  sections  of  marl  exposed,  from 
four  to  eight  feet  in  thickness,  and  of  green  and  yellow  color.  The 
green  marls  are  specially  rich  in  potash  and  iron,  and  their  various 
-compounds.  Similar  beds  are  found  in  many  other  places  along 
the  Republican  and  its  tributaries  as  far  as  to  the  western  line  of  the 


ECONOMICAL,    GEOLOGY.  317 

State.  They  are  also  common  on  the  Niobrara,  on  tributaries  of 
the  Loup,  and  in  other  sections.  As  the  sands  of  New  Jersey  have 
been  fertilized,  and  in  many  places  transformed  into  gardens  by 
marl  beds,  so  can  the  occasionally  excessively  sandy  tracts  of  West- 
ern Nebraska  also  be  changed  into  rich  lands  when  once  the  needs 
of  population  make  it  necessary. 

Salt  in  large  quantities  exists  in  a  few  sections  of  the  State.  In 
Lancaster  County  there  are  a  number  of  salt  marshes,  the  one  near 
Lincoln  covering  about  six  hundred  acres.  There  are  a  number  of 
smaller  ones  near  by.  They  are  nearly  level  and  in  dry  weather 
are  covered  with  incrustations  of  salt.  They  are  mostly  destitute 
of  vegetation.  Fine  sand  and  loam  comprise  the  soil,  underlaid, 
however,  by  the  reddish  sandstones  of  the  Dakota  Group.  In  the 
deposits  of  this  marsh,  and  all  the  others  that  I  have  visited,  are  the 
bones  of  elk,  deer,  antelope  and  buffalo,  which  no  doubt  were 
mired  in  past  times  when  they  resorted  here  for  salt.  Over  this 
marsh  the  water  oozes  up  at  innumerable  places,  and  great  quanti- 
ties of  it  flow  off  into  Salt  Creek.  Wherever  I  have  tested  it  the 
brine  contained  within  a  fraction  of  ten  per  cent  of  salt.  Oftener 
more  than  less.  Much  of  the  brine  over  this  marsh  that  has  stood 
for  days  and  partly  evaporated,  contains  from  twenty  to  thirty  per 
cent  of  salt.  A  number  of  vats  have  been  constructed  here  and  the 
manufacture  of  salt  is  carried  on  on  a  small  scale.  The  business  is 
capable  of  immense  development.  Artesian  wells  that  have  been 
put  down  at  and  near  this  place  have  struck  brine  at  different 
depths,  the  saltiness  varying  from  five  to  twenty  per  cent.  The 
well  on  the  Government  Square  is  one  thousand  and  fifty  feet  deep. 
It  passed  through  various  strata  which  furnished  brine  and  mineral 
waters  of  remarkable  quality.  The  mingling  together  of  all  the 
streams  that  flowr  constantly  from  this  well,  furnishes  a  mineral 
water  which  for  efficacy  in  healing  some  kind  of  diseases,  is  be- 
lieved not  to  be  surpassed  by  any  medicinal  waters  of  the  land.  At 
the  Commercial  Hotel,  in  Lincoln,  this  artesian  water  is  employed 
in  giving  Turkish  and  other  baths.  Remarkable  cures  have  already 
been  performed  through  its  agency. 

In  northwestern  Nebraska,  beyond  the  head-waters  of  the  Elk- 
horn,  there  is  another  region  of  salt  springs  and  marshes  far  more 
extensive  than  the  one  in  Lancaster  County.  Unfortunately  it  is 
beyond  the  railroad  lines,  and  in  a  sparsely  settled  region.  It  has 
not  yet  been  thoroughly  explored.  In  various  other  places  brine 


318  GEOLOGY. 

has  been  found  in  boring  for  fresh  water.  There  is  no  doubt,  if  the 
•saline  resources  of  the  State  were  developed,  the  home  supply 
would  be  abundant  for  ages. 

Artesian  Wells. — The  artesian  wells  now  flowing  in  Lincoln,  and 
the  one  in  successful  operation  in  Omaha,  are  demonstrations  of  the 
ease  with  they  can  be  obtained.  The  former  is  over  1,000  and  the 
latter  750  feet  deep.  Water,  however,  flowing  to  the  surface  was 
first  obtained  in  the  former  at  a  depth  of  550  feet.  The  geological 
structure  of  the  State  is  most  favorable  for  obtaining  water  in  almost 
every  quarter  of  it,  and  eventually  it  will  be  found  that  artesian 
wells  will  supply  an  immense  amount  of  the  cheapest  motive  power. 
It  can  be  run  into  huge  reservoirs,  and  let  fall  from  heights 
sufficient  to  propel  large  water  wheels.  Their  value  in  the  interior 
for  watering  stock  and  other  purposes  wTill  be  incalculable. 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  are  the  most  important  works  hitherto  published  giving  an 
account  of  or  referring  to  the  natural  history  of  Nebraska: 

1.  Lewis  and  Clarke's  Expedition  to  the  Head  Waters  of  the  Missouri, 

1 804-1 80G. 

2.  Explorations  of  Fremont,  1842  and  subsequently. 

3.  Reports  of  the   Union  Pacific  Railroad  Surveying  Expeditions  from 

1853  to  1856. 

4.  Geological  Report  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  by  David  Dale 

Owen,  1852.    Contains  some  descriptions  of  vertebrates  from  the 
Bad  Lands  and  of  Carboniferous  fossils. 

5.  Swallow's  Reports  on  Fossils  of  the  Carboniferous  Deposits. 

<>.    Geinitz's  (Dresden)  Carboniferous  and  Dyas  of  Nebraska,  18G6. 

7.  Marcou's  Report  on   Carboniferous  of  Nebraska,   Bull.,    Geol.,   Soc. 

France;  second  series,  volume  21. 

8.  Hayden's  Report  fo-  1867,  1868,  and  1869. 

9.  Hayden's  Report  for  1870. 

10.  Hayden's  Final  Report,  1872. 

CRETACEOUS  GEOLOGY. 

11.  Hayden's  papers  in  American  Journal  of   Science  and  Arts  from  1863  to 

1807. 

12.  O.  Heer's  (Switzerland)  Phyllites  du  Nebraska,  1865. 

13.  Some  Cretaceous  Fossil  Plants  of  Nebraska,  by  Lesquereux,  1868. 

14.  Newberry's  Late  Extinct  Floras  of  North  America,  Lyceum  of  Natural 

History  of  New  York,  1868. 

15.  Lesquereux's    Cretaceous    Flora,    1874.    This  work  contains  all  the 

descriptions  of  Cretaceous  leaves  from  Nebraska,    Kansas,   etc., 
previously  published. 

16.  Cretaceous  Vertebrata,  E.  D.  Cope,  volume  2,  1875.    Though  describ- 

ing mainly  from  Niobrara  Group  of  Kansas,  its  descriptions  are 
good  for  many  forms  from  the  same  horizon  in  Nebraska. 

17.  E.  B.  Meek's  Invertebrate  Paleontology  of  the  Cretaceous  of  the  North- 

west; volume  9. 

TERTIARY  GEOLOGY. 

18.  Leidy's  Ancient  Fauna  of  Nebraska.     Smithsonian  publication,  1852. 
18.     Leidy's  Mammalian  Fauna  of  Dakota  and  Nebraska;  1879,  published  by 

the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia;  volume  7,  second 
series. 

20.  Tertiary  Flora,  by  Lesquereux;  1878,  volume  5. 

21.  Superficial  Deposits  of  Nebraska,  by  S.  A.;  1874. 


320  APPENDIX. 

GENERAL  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

22.  Birds  of  the  Northwest,  Coues;  1874. 

23.  Faunal  List  and  Natural  Food  of  tbe  Birds  of  Nebraska,  by  S.  A. ;  1877. 

24.  Report  of  U.  S.  Entomological  Commission ;  1877. 

25.  Catalogue  of  the  Flora  of  Nebraska,  by  S.  A.,  published  by  the  Univers- 

ity of  Nebraska;  1875. 

26.  Catalogue  of  Land  and  Fresh  Water  Shells  of  Nebraska,  by  S.  A  ;  Bul- 

letin of  Geological  Surveys  of  the  Territories,  1876. 

Of  the  above  publications  the  following  numbers  were  published  under  the 
direction  of  the  Hayden  Surveys,  by  authority  of  the  government,  namely; 
Numbers  8,  9,  10,  15,  16,  17,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24,  and  26. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

PAGE" 

Agates         

257     Birds,  butcher  bird    .... 

.      123 

Alga',  fresh  water,      

S3         k  4       fly  catchers      .... 

.     124 

Alkali  lands,        

301  j       '4       gallinaceous    .... 

.      1  25 

4  4             analysis  of               .         . 

301          4  4       grackles  

.     124 

4  4             origin  of          .... 

301         44       gulls         ...... 

.     126. 

kk            how  best  cultivated 

301         44      hummingbirds 

.      1  "5 

Alkaline  character  of  Pliocene  lake  . 

251          kt       long-  winged  swimmers  . 

matter  beneath  Loess  . 

261          "       meadow  larks 

'.     124 

Alluvium    ....... 

262         44      mockingbirds 
2!»3         '  k       night  hawks    .... 

1  23 
.     125 

Amphibians         

128         44      orioles     ..... 

.     124 

Analysis  of  alkaline  beds  beneath  Loess  . 

262         4k      perchers          .... 

.      123 

44            alluvium           .... 

269         tk       piccariaii         .... 

.      125 

flour-like  polishing  powder  in 

4  4      pigeons  

.     1:5 

Pliocene    .... 

240         '<•      hinging    

.      123 

4  4           Loess       

267         44      starlings           .... 

.     124 

44            Missouri  River  sediment 

281         4  k      sparrows          .... 

.      124 

4  4           water 

74         kk      swallows          .... 

.     123 

4  '            silicious  matter  beneath  Loess 

262         kk      thrushes           .... 

.     123 

Anemones  

78         '4      totipalmate      .... 

.     126 

Animal  Hie  during  Tertiary  ages 

247         44       vireos       

.     123 

Antelope,  pronghorn,  number  of 

118         4k       wading    

.     125 

Appalachian  revolution        .         .         .     171 

1-171         44       warblers           .... 

.     1  23 

4  4            chain     

209  '       4  k      woodpeckers  .... 

.     125 

44            region  ..... 

162         '  4       wrens       

.      12* 

Appendix  

319     Bishoff's  analysis  of  Loess 

.      267 

Archajan  highlands    

K.l      Bisons  in  tlie  Pliocene 

.     'J4U 

Area  of  Nebraska       

3     Bison  latifrons  

.      259 

Artesian  borings  in  Laramie  Group  . 

2o:)     Blackberries,  wild      .... 

.      102 

4  4     Lincoln 

166     Black-haws         

.     104 

k  4             4  '     Omaha 

166  i  Blue  clay,  analysis  of          ... 

255 

Artesian  well  in  Beatrice  and  Omaha 

55             4  *           character  of 

.'      254 

44       k  4     Lincoln    .... 

54            4  k          extent  of  .         .         .         . 

.      254 

44      4  4          k  4        chemical   consti- 

44          glacial  origin  of 

of  water 

150            4  4          section  of           ... 

.      253 

4  4            wells          .... 
Arickeree,  Pliocene  beds  on 

318    Blue  Rivers,  length  and  character  of 
238     Bogs,  peat           

.        H5. 
.     31  1> 

Asthmatic  subjects  cured  in  Nebraska 

147    Bony  fishes          

.      1  2!) 

Atmosphere,  a  motive  power    . 

151     Bottom  lands      • 

4 

purity  and  clearness  of 

31                 4  k             analysis  of  soil     .  • 

.      2!!0: 

Authorities    on     Nebraska    Geology    and 

Bottom  river  of      issouri  Valley 

.     291 

Natural  History  

319                44            of  Platte  Valley  . 

.      2'.«4 

Bad  Lands           ...... 

V>                 '4             how  recent  Iv  formed   . 

2!  '5' 

agricultural  character 

303     Bow  Rivers          

(il 

44            geological             44 

303     Broadliead,  opinion  on  coal 

.      165 

of  F..rt  Bridget-       . 

215     Brick  clay  

.     S14 

44             of  Miocene  age        .         .       222 

-224     Buckwheat  family      • 

N2 

Bathmodontidaee        

218     Buffalo  berry      . 

.     105 

Batrachians,  tailed     
Beatrice,  hydraulic  limestone  at 

12!)     Buffalo  grass   disappearance  of 
314                   44            in  Nebraska 

.      114 
.       42 

Beetle,  cottomvood  leaf     .... 

134     Buffaloes,  number  of  in  Nebraska 

.     117 

Big  Horn  Mountains           .... 

2(i()     Bulletins   of    Nebraska   Weather   Service 

Birds,  fossil  in  Pliocene  beds     . 

242 

26-27-28  •. 

4       reptilian  in  Niobrara  Group   . 

195     Cactus  family     

79 

4      modern   ...... 

122     Calcareous  materials  in  Drift     . 

261 

Anserine          

126     Camel  family  in  Miocene  . 

22  7 

4       carnivorous     ..... 

125     Canon  City,  reptilian  remains  at 

.      176 

'       chimney  swallows  .... 

125     Canons  »f  Nebraska  .... 

14-15 

crow  family     

124     Carboniferous  age       .... 

.      1  6-1 

k       diving  birds     

1-7                 k'                44     animal  life  of 

.     168 

4       belted  kingfisher     .... 

1  25                                 4  4     close  of 

.     17t 

4       buntings           .         .         .         ... 

124  '                               44    features  of  . 

.     167 

1A 

322 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

.  165 
163-164 
.  164 
.  >J13 
.  168 


Carboniferous  age,  fossils  of 
44  4  4     rocks  of 

4  4     sections  of  rocks 
4  4  rocks  for  building 

44  age,  vegetation  of 

Carnivora  in  Nebraska 

4  4          of  Fort  Bridger  Eocene    . 
44          of  Miocene 
Cat  family  in  Miocene 
4  4  in  Pliocene 

Cats,  father  of 

Charts  of  rainfall        .... 

Chalk  bluffs 

4 '          rocks  from,  for  building 

Cherries,  wild 

Childs,   Dr.,     meteorological     tables     of 

20-'21-22-23 

Chinch  bug,  history  of  etc. 
Climate  of  Carboniferous  age    . 
44      future  effect  in  Nebraska 
4  4       extreme  effects  in  Nebraska 
Climatic  conditions  in  Quaternary     . 
44  44  Lyell 's  theory    . 

44  44          Croll's    and    Geike's 

theories 

Climatology  of  Nebraska  .... 
Ckouds,  sharp  outlines  of  .... 
Coal,  artesian  borings  for 

44     fields  of  TriaJuro  deposits      . 
44     in  Carboniferous  of  Nebraska 
44     in  Cretaceous  of  Nebraska 
44     in  Lincoln  artesian  boring 
41     in  Upper  Carboniferous    . 
Colorado  Group,  how  formed,  by  King     . 
44        Range,  Pliocene  beds  of     . 

Columbine 

Composite  family 

Conglomerate  of  Pliocene  beds 
Consumption  discussed      .... 
Convolvulus  family  » 

Convulsive  movements  in  Pliocene 


'229 
2-'» 
246 
'219 
37 

1K8 

313 

100 


170 
154 
149 
305 
306 

307 


PAGE 

Dinosaurs 176 

44        in  Niobrara  Group    .         .         .195 
4 '        in  Laramie  Group     .         .         .     '205 

Dinocerata 217 

Divide  between  Missouri  and  Mississippi  .     235 

.  230-247 
.  70 
255-256--2S7 
m  .  '256 
.  '  .  257 


119  I  Dog  family 

219     Drainage,  general  character  of 


Drift  materials 

mingled  with  alluvi 

4  4  sections  of 

Eaton  on  coal  in  Lincoln  .          .          .         .166 

Eccentricity,  the  earth's  changes  of          .     307 

Economic  geology 39 

Ehrenberg           ....           4)-l«})-210 
Elevation  of  towns  and   stations  in   Ne- 
braska   6 

Elevation,  average  of  east  half  of  State  .         9 

4  4        of  west  half  of  State  .         9 

4  4        of  going  west       .         .         9 

44  4  4       of  whole  State     .         .  9-70 

Elkhorn  River,    where   it  rises,    length, 

character  and  tributaries     . 
Elevation  of  Pliocene  beds 
p]lephants,  earliest  forms  of 

4  4          in  Pliocene       .... 


17     Elk,  numbers  of,  etc  ..... 
32     Emmons,  Prof.,  analysis  of  Missouri  wa- 
167  |          ter        ....... 


63 
234 
217 
•244 
118 


Endlich,  Prof.,  analysis  of  geyserite,  by 
Enemies  to  injurious  insects      .         . 
Eocene  Epoch 

44  groups  of 


73 
241 
135 

21  D 
211 


life  of  .  212-21  3-21  4-21  5 

"  length  of     .         .         216-21  8-etc 

Epoch,  Niobrara        .....     187 
"        Miocene         .....     221 
Erie  clays  .......     "254 


Cope.  Prof. 


lJ»0-192-19i--2l7-219-226-2oO 


Cottonwood  leaf  beetle      .         .         .         .     134  , 

Coyote 119  i 

Cretaceous  deposits  represented       .        .     178  j 
44        divisions     .          .         .     179  S 
' '          groups  in  Colorado  .         •     180 

"          period 178 

44       close  of         .  .     207 

Crinoids 169 

Crocodile  in  Green  River  beds  .         .         .     215 

Crowfoo   family 78 

Croxton's  artesian  boring  .         .          .     165 

Crustacians  of  Carboniferous  Age     .         .     170 

Curlew   spring  at 150 

Currants,  wild 1(,3 

Curves   dominant  form  of  surface     .         .        5 

Cycads 176 

Dakota  Group,  climate  of  epoch        .         .     186 

"  discussions  in  regard  to     .     182 

extent  of    .         .         .         .181 

"  flora  accounted  for     .         .186 

flora  disconnected      .         .185 

"  first  published  reports  of    184 

how  recognized          .       172-176 

Lesquereux's  report  on     .     185 

4 '  opinions    of    Marco u    and 

Capellini        .         .         .182 

origin  of     .         .         .         .1*1 

' '  source  of  salt  at  Lincoln  .       55 

shallow  sea  deposit    .         .     182 

Dams,  how  best  built        .         .         .         .69 

Dawn  horse 213 

Deer  number  of  species  in  Nebraska       .     118 

Destructive  climates 149 

Devonian  age 162 

Des  Moines  River  coal  beds      .         .       162-163 


Erickson  on  solar  engines 

Erosion  during  the  Miocene 

Estimates   comparative   of    rainfall    with 

other  regions 

Europe,  rainfall  of 

Evaporation  from  rivers  of  Nebraska 
Experiments  on  absorptive  power  of  soils 

Fauna  of  Nebraska 

Ferns  

Ferret,  black-footed          . 

Figwort  family 

Fire  clay,  where  found,  etc. 

Fishes,  bony 

44      cartilagenous          . 
Flora  of   Nebraska,   general    character  of 

44  4  4  origin  of 

44     Eocene 

4  4     Miocene 


152 
'.''23 

39 
40 
47 
45 
117 
88 
119 
80 
314 
129 
130 
77 

.     115 
212-214 
.      225 

Pliocene 241 

Floras,    Gray's    Manual,    Wood's    Class 
Book 


Flowerless  plants 
Flowering  plants  of  Lignitic 
Flood-plains  of  Nebraska  rivers 
Fly,  Hessian       .... 
Forest  trees  of  Nebraska 


77 
89 
204 
282 
133 
84 


Forest  bed.  old 258 

' 4       "      4  4  vegetation  of     .         .         .     259 

Forests  formerly  and  now  of  Nebraska     .       84 

44      of  Jurassic  period  .         .         .177 

Food,  kind  of  in  rural  districts          .         .     149 

Fort  Bentou  Group   where  found      .         .     187 

' '        how  originated          .     187 

"  "        length  of  epoch        .     187 

"        life  of        .         .         .187 

Fort  Bridger  Group 215 

44     animal  remains  .     216 

Fort  Pierre  Group 197 

41  4  4  '     gypsum  in  •         .198 

sea          .         .         .         .198 


INDEX. 


323 


PAGE 

Fort  Pierre  Group,  life  of          ...  199 

4 '               4  4        how  closed          .         .  -200 

Foxes 119 

Fox  Hills  Group 200 

4 4      not  found  in  Nebraska     .  200 

' '      vegetable  remains  of       .  201 

' '      animal  life  of  .         .          .  201 

Fremont  on  Buffalo  grass  •         .         .42 

Fruit  destroyers 1 33 

Fruits,  wild,  of  Nebraska           ...  97 

Gentian  family 81 

Geometrical  forms  of  surface    ...  5 

Geike  James,  on  origin  of  till     .         .         .  254 

Gervais  M.  of  France         ....  246 

Gigantic  reptiles 177 

Glacial  Drift,  second  appearance  of           .  209 

44      period .  253 

44           "      sections  of  .         .          .          .  253 

44           "      scratches  of  on  rock   .          .  253 

Glaciers,  local  during  Terrace  Epoch         .  2.42 

Gold 316 

Gooseberries 103 

Gophers 120-121 

Grapes,  where  finest  flourish     .          .    •      .  25 

wild 104 

44        summer,  etc 104 

Grasses,  wild 108 

analysis  of 109 

4*         Buffalo    disappearance  of  .          .114 

Griffith  Mountain 51 

Group,  Dakota 181 

4 '       Fox  Hills 200 

44      Fort  Benton  .          .          .          .      -  .  187 

44      Fort  Pierre 197 

44      Laramie 201 

4 '      Loup  Fork 2*3 

Green  River  Group,  flora  of      .          .       203-214 

41         animal  life         .          .  215 

Grinnell  Laud,  former  climate  of      .         .  3t>6 

Gumbo  soil,  analysis  of       ....  302 

G-uyot's  table  of  rainfall     ....  40 

Hares 122 

Harlan  County,  character  of  Pliocene       .  _'o7 

Hard  pan    .                                      ,  3n-> 

41       analysis  of 3u2 

Hawn,  Prof 182 

Hawthorns           .         .         .         .         .          .  ],«•_> 

Hazel  nuts  .         .         .         .         .         .108 

Hay  den  quoted,  etc.  .    178-181-188-208=224-244 

Healthfulness  of   Nebraska                  .         .  145 

Heat,  amount  received  from  the  sun          .  308 

Hessian  fly,  habits  of.  etc.         .         .         .  133 

Heer,  Prof.  O.  ...         183-225-242 

Honeysuckle  family 80 

Hoofed  animals          .         .         .         .         .  213 

Horse  family  in  Miocene  ....  226 

in  Pliocene  .         .         .243 

Humboldt  quoted 4J 

Humidity,  annual  and  mean      .         .         .86 

Huronian  rocks 161 

Hydraulic  limestone                     ,  313 
Hieroglyphic  on  boulder    .         .         .         .256 

Ice  sheet — retreating          ....  263 

Impurities  of  water,  source  of            .         .  72 

Increasing  rainfall 43 

Indigo  plant 79 

Insectivora 122 

Insect  life,  number  of  species,  etc.             .  131  j 

Insect,  material  conditions  in  relation  to  135 

Insects,  enemies  to             ....  135 

Infusorial  earth  in  the  Pliocene          .         .  238 
Iris  family            .          .                   .         .         .82 

Iron  ores 318  | 

Isotherm  summer  of  72  °  ,  76 c           .         .  25 

Isochimal,  winter  of  20°   .          .         .  25  I 

June  berry 102 

June  rains           .  34 


PAGE 
.  173 
.  173 
.  174 
.  177 
259-293 
.  314 


Jurassic  deposits  absent  in  Nebraska 

Juro-Trio  period 

Jurassic  beds,  where  found 

Jurassic  period,  close  of    . 

Kames 

Kaolin 

Keya  Paha  River        .... 

King,  Clarence  .          1 74-198-2 15-249-etc. 

Labyrinths  on  the  Niobrara       ...  13 

Lake  Bonneville 262 

Lake  Lahontan           .         .                  .  263 

Lake,  Miocene           .                   ...  222 

Lakes,  number  and  extent  in  Nebraska  .  52 

Laramie  Group           ......  201 

animal  life  of    .         .          .  204 

area  of                ...  202 

coal  beds  of       ...  203 

sediments  of     .         .          .  201 

44            vegetable  life  of        .          .  203 

Lancaster  County,  section  in     .         .         .  257 

Larkspur    .  78 

Laurentian  rocks         .                   ...  161 

Lava  Hood  at  close  of  Miocene  .         .         .  231 

Lead            ...                  ...  318 

Leidy,  Dr.  .     1 91-215-221-236-244-25 7-etc. 

Lesquereux,  quoted   .  184-203-214-etc. 

Level,  changes  of  during  Loess  period     .  282 

Lewis  and  Clarke        .         .         .         .         .  203 

4  4      on  buffalo  grass                 .  42 
44                44      on  temperature  of  Mis- 
souri  ....  48 

Lily  family 82 

Limestone 313 

Lithographic  stone     .                  ...  316 

Lobelia  family             .  80 

Locusts,  egg  laying  .                   ...  138 

departure  of  swarms  .         .139 

destructiveness  of                .         .  139 
future  depredations  of        .         .143 

how  to  combat  them            .         .  140 
hatching  of                   .         .         .139 

invasions  of                  ...  143 

invertebrate  enemies  of      .         .  142 

nativity  of                              .         .  136 

nature's  method  to  destroy        .  141 

numbers  that  light  down     .         .  187 

spring  history  and  migration      .  187 

vertebrate  enemies  of         .         .  143 

Loess  deposits,  and  period  of    .         .         .  265 

4 4                analysis  of         ...  267 

adaptability  to  fruit          .  271 

architectural  properties  .  2d9 

causes  of  peculiarities      .  270 

• 4                close  of  period          .         .  286 

human  remains  in     .         .  283 

4  4                length  of            ...  283 

44                life  of        ....  284 

mollusks  of        ...  287 

physical  properties  of       .  267 

river  sediments  of     .         .  281 

Rhine  Loess,  analysis   of  267 
44                Richthof en's  theory  con- 
sidered          .         .         .273 

4  4                scenery  of          ...  272 

4  4                true  origin  of    .         .         .  280 

Logan  River,  character  of,  etc.         .         .  64 

Loup  River,  head  waters  of                .         .  15 

4  •            origin  of,  etc.         ...  66 

Lyell's  theory  on  changes  of  climate        .  306 

Mallows      .                   .....  78 

Mammals,  wild  of  Nebraska      .         .         .  117 

44           of  Eocene                 .         .         .  213 

4  4           of  Vermillion  Group         .         .  213 

Manual  of  Economic  Entomology  needed  136 

Marl  beds             ...                             .  316 

Marsh          .         .         .    191-194-213-243-245-etc. 

Mastodon  of  Pliocene         .         .                  .  244, 


324 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

McGee,  W.  G 264 

Meek,  opinions  of   on  Nebraska   Geology 

162-164-179 

Mediteranean  sea  during  Cretaceous  209 

Mesozoic  times  in  Nebraska         .         .     173-1!>7 
Mexico,  Gulf  of  source  of  moisture  47 

Mice  .  .          .     121-122 

Microscopic  infusorial  earth       .         .         .     239 
Milkweed  family         .  82 

Mint  family 81 

Miocene  Epoch,  bad  lands  of    .         .         .     224 

' '  camel  family  in        .         .     227 

4 '  carnivora  of.         .         .     228 

' *  close  of    .         .         .         .     231 

deposits  of       ...     223 

elephants  of     .         .         .227 

extent  of  lakes  of   .  222 

flora  of     .         .          .         .     225 

horse  family  in        .         .     220 

inauguration  of  .     221 

' '  length  of  ...     223 

' '  life,  animal  of          .         .     225 

Missouri  River,  at  close  of  Loess  period  .     282 

character  of  .          58-56 

"  character    during     Loess 

period    .  .     282 

sediments  analyzed  .     281 

' '  valley  different  from  Mis- 

sissippi .         .         .         .155 
' '  traffic  on    .         .         .         .58 

Moisture  in  atmosphere     ....       34 
"         relative  amount  .       35 
' '      how  much  absorbed  by  the  soil  .       45 
Mollusks,  land  and  fresh  water          .         .     144 
' '         in  Lignitic  deposits    .         .         .     205 
"         of  Carboniferous  age          .         .169 
Monkeys,  earliest  of  ....     21!> 

' '          of  the  Miocene          .         .         .     290 
Monchat's  solar  engine      .         .        »         .     152 

Mosses  83 

Mountain  horse  ....  21 7 

' k         regions,  supposed  drying  up  of      49 

Mudge,  Prof 183-238 

Mulberry,  wild  .         .         .  117 

Muskrat  122 

Nebraska  affected  by  the   precipitation  in 

the  mountains  .         .         .         .49 

Nebraska  a  health  resort,  ....     150 
' '        future  of  the  race  in  .  .     153 

' '  partly  a  land  surface  in  Miocene  224 
"  reserve  and  now  wasted  forces  of  151 
"  sun  power  in  .  .  .  151-153 
"  what  to  be  expected  from  its 

people  .  .  155 

"        when  second  time  a  land  surface    208 

Nemaha,  noted  character,  character  of,  etc      64 

Neuralgia,  cause  of  in  Nebraska       .         .     148 

Newberry 263 

Night-shade  family    .  ...       81 

Niobrara  Group,  animal  life  of          .         .189 
"  birds  of  .  .     195 

fossil  wood  of  .  .  1 89 
fishes  of  ...  200 
reptiles  in  .  .  .191 
vegetable  life  of  .  .189 
' '  vigorous  life  of  .  ]  96 

Niobrara  River,  exposures  of  Miocene  on    222 
' '  region,   exceptional  fea- 

tures of          ...       13 
region,  exceptional  mete- 
orological conditions  of 

38-39 

source,  elevation  above 
the  sea,  length,  canons 
of,  tributaries,  etc  61 

Niobrara  and  Loup,  character  of  Pliocene     236 
North  Park,  Pliocene  lake         .         .         .     233 


PAGE 

Nuts .     107 

Oak  Creek,  section  of  blue  clay  on    .         .     253 
Ochre  .         .         .  .         .315 

Orchis  family 82 

Oreodons    .         .  ...       245-22$ 

Owen,  Prof  R  D 194 

Oysters  in  Lignitic  Group  .  .  .  205 
« lysters  in  Niobrara  Group  .  .  190 
Ozone  in  atmosphere  .  .  .  32-146 
Paint,  mineral  ....  315 
Palmer,  Captain,  owner  of  molar  of  mas- 
todon   244 

Papaw  107 

Parasite,  insect 135 

|  Paris,  rainfall  of 40 

Peak-toothed  animals        .         .         .         .213 

Peat 309 

Peat,  extent  and  character  of  .         .       3C9-3IO 

Penstemons        .  80 

Perchers     .  .         .     123 

Permian  Age,  character  of  its  rocks          .     172 

"          how  caused,  effects   .         .     171 

'.'  last  portion  lost  .          .172 

"          where  its  deposit  occurs    .     171 

Petrified  wood  in  Pliocene         .         .         .     241 

"         "        in  Drift       ....     257 

Pine  forests  formerly  in  Nebraska     .         .     3(4 

Pink  family 78 

Planting  of  trees,  supposed  effect  on  rain- 
fall       .......       44 

Plant  lice,  habits,  increase,  etc         .         .133 

Platte  drainage  into  Republican        .         .       59 

"      length,  origin,  character          .          58-59 

' '      North  Fork  of,  level  of,  etc.   .         .       59 

' '      temperature  of  waters  at  its  mouth 

and  at  North  Platte  .          .       49 

Pliocene  Epoch,  analysis  of  geysers  .     280 

animal  life  of  .          .242 

' '  beds  conformable  to  Mi- 

ocene ....     233 

"  birds  of  .          .         .          .     2-12 

"  bisons  in  ...     246 

"  calcareous  character  of  .     238 

"  camels  in  .          .          .     245 

cat  family         .          .          .     246 

' '  close  of    .         .         .  249 

dog  family        .         .         .     247 

elephants  in     .         .         .     244 

1 '  elevation  of     .         .         .     234 

extinct  geysers  in  .         .     239 

favorable    conditions  for 

animal  life  in      .          .     247 
' '  horse  family  in         .          .     243 

how  inaugurated     .          .     232 
' '  lake,  eastward  barren  of    234 

length  of  ...     241 

materials  of  in  Nebraska    235 
' '  Oreodons          .          .          .     245 

"  origin  of  the  above  .     2o9 

picture    of,  character   of     247 
* '  polishing  powder,  infuso- 

rial earth,   geyser  flo- 
cula     ....     238 

Rhionoseros  in         .         .     244 

ruminants  in  .          .          .     '245 

11  thickness  of     .          .          .     233 

section  of         .          .       23U-237 

"  vegetable  life  of       .         .     241 

Pliocene  lake,  where  perpetuated     .         .     299 

Plum,  ground     .         .         .         .  78 

"      wild  of  Nebraska     .         .         .         .97 

Polemonium  family    .         .         .         .         .81 

Polishing  powder  in  Pliocene     .          .          .     239 

' '  origin  of          ...     239 

"  section  of  bed         .          .     239 

Pouillet's  solar  physics      ....     151 

Position  of  Nebraska          .         .         .  3 


INDEX. 


325 


PAGE 

Potters'  clay,  where  found,  and  analysis 

of 314 

Prairie,  its  natural  compactness         .         .  44 

44      clover 79 

"       dogs 120 

Pulse  family 78 

Quaternary  Age,  changes  of  climate  in     .  306 

periods  of       .        253-265-291 

' 4          inauguration  of       .         .  253 

Rabbits 122 

Raccoons 119 

Race,  probable  future  of  in  Nebraska       .  153 

Rain,  when  most  apt  to  fall                 .         .  47 

Rainfall,  areas  of  equal      .         .         .     36-37-38 

4  •        average  amount  of       .         .          35-36 

' '        cause  of  increasing      ...  44 

44        increasing  .         .          41-43 

' '        increase  in  west  Nebraska  .         .  46 

4  4        originating  from  rivers        .         .  48 

west  of  100th  "Meridian        .         .  35 

Rainy  season 84 

Rapid  Creek 62 

Raspberries 102 

Rats 121 

Reptiles  in  Niobrara  Group        .         .         .191 

Republican  River  origin  of,  etc.        .         .  63 

Resume  of  geological  history     .         .         .  262 
Revolution,  geological  at  close  of  Laramie 

Group  .                  207 

Rheumatism  in  Nebraska  ....  48 

Rhinoceros  in  Pliocene       .         .         .         .244 

Richthofen's  theory  on  origin  of  Loess     .  273 

what  it  explains         .  274 

4  4  objections  to 

274-275-276-etc. 
44  his  assumed  absence 

of  shells       .         .278 
his  assumed  absence 

of  stratification   .  279 

Rivers  of  Nebraska    .....  56 

Roads,  nature  of  Nebraska         ...  70 

Rocky  Mountains,  when  formed,  etc.         .  208 

Rose 'family 79 

Ruminating  hogs — oreodons — in  Miocene  .  228 

Sable  American 119 

Saline  Springs,  where  located   ...  53 

Salt 316 

Salt  Creek,  name,  character  of.  etc.           .  55 
Sand  Hill  cherry         .         .                  .         .99 

Sand  Hills,  area  of 298 

4  4           character  of     .         .         .         .  298 

' 4           cultivation  of  .         .         .         .  300 

4  4           location  and  description  of      .  15 

origin  of  ....  299 
4  4           where  located  .         .         .         .297 

Saurians 127 

Scott's  Bluffs,  Pliocene  origin  of      .         .  236 
Sections,  geological    164-236-237-239-253- 

25  8-260-2  61-262-2  67-2  76-2  79-281-292-317 

Section  showing  potters'  clay    .                  .  314 
Sediment  of  Missouri  River  water               73-74 

Sensitive  River 79 

Sharks  of  Niobrara  Group          .          .          .  191 

Shell  bark  hickory 107 

Showers  in  spring       .....  34 

4  4        on  Niobrara          .  39 

Shrubs,  list  of  in  Nebraska        .         .  91  i 

Silica 315  ! 

Silting  up  of  river  beds      .         .         .         .  292  j 

Sioux  Lake 228  j 

Skunks .  120  i 

Snakes  in  Nebraska 128  , 

Soap  plant 83 

Springs,  appearance  of  new       ...  41 

Springs  on  Niobrara   .                  ...  13 

4 '      where  found          ....  63 

Spurge  family 82 

2A 


PAGE 
Stanton,  Captain  W.  S.,  TJ.  S.  A.       .          39-65 

Strawberries,  wild 201 

Stone,  building  .         .         .         .311 

Stout,  W.  B  ,  stone  quarry  of  .  .  .  312 
Streams,  increasing  size  of  in  Nebraska  .  42 
Subsidence  of  Basin  region  .  .'  .  233 
4  4  of  Pliocene  lake  .  .  .  235 
Superficial  deposits  .  .  .  253-265-291 
Surface  deposits,  fuel  in  .  .  .  .  304 

Swift,  the 119 

Swallows 182-161-162 

Squirrels 120 

Tables  of  annual  and  mean  humidity        .       35 

44      of  temperature         18-19-20-21-22-23-24 

Temperature  above  100°  in  ten  years       .       23 

below  /ero    ....       22 

different  estimates  of          .       17 

extremes  of          ...       29 

mean  of  years      .         .         .21 

' 4     for  the  seasons   .  25-28 

4  4     for  the  whole  year      .       29 

of  the  Missouri    ...       74 

of  the  Platte         ...       75 

of  the  Missouri  and  its  effect 

on  evaporation       .         .       48 
44  tables  ....          18-19 

Terrace  Epoch 291 

44            in  Europe   ....     292 
Terraces,  number  and  height  of        .         .     293 
Tertiary  ages,  their  character  and   condi- 
tion           248 

44      epoch  .         .         209-221-223-etc. 

4  4      general  remarks  on  .         .     252 

Thompson,    S.    R.,    head    of      Nebraska 

weather  service 26 

Timber  in  modern  geological  times  .         .     304 

Titanotheriums 226 

Tortoises  in  Nebraska         .         .         .         .127 
4  4        in  Niobrara  Group     .         .         .     194 
4  4        in  Pliocene  beds          .         .         .     242 
Transition  bed  between  Eocene  and  Mio- 
cene       220 

Transition  period  between  Cretaceous  and 

Tertiary 207 

Trees  covered  by  alluvium         .         .         .297 
4  4     increase  of  young  in  Colorado           .       51 
4  4     supposed  dying  out  of  in  the  moun- 
tains     50 

Triassic  deposits  absent  from  Nebraska     .     173 

Trio-Juro  Periods 173 

44  animal  life  of          .         .176 

deposits  of     .         .         .174 

length  of         .          .          .174 

4  4  vegetable  life  of     .         .175 

Trilobites  of  Carboniferous       .         .         .170 

Uintah  Group 220 

44  animal  life  of        .         .         .     220 

Uintah  Range,  Avhen  formed     .         .         .     207 
Valleys,  how  to  gain  a  conception  of   the 

number 12 

Vegetation,  changing  character  of     .         .      42 

Verbenas 81 

Vertebrate  fauna  of  Nebraska  .         .         .     117 

Vermillion  Group— Eocene        .         .         .     212 

44  life  of     .         .         .         .212- 

Violets 78 

Von  Meyer 194 

Walnut,  black 107 

44         white  ....  84-88 

Warner,  Hon.  J.  T 189 

44  4  4        stone  quarry  of  .     312 

Warren,  Lieutenant,  discovery  by  .         .     235 

Water,  character  of  in  Nebraska      .         .       71 

4  4      river,  character  of  the  Bow  .       7S 

4  4      Niobrara    .       75 

44          44  4l       Republican       75 

44          4  4  4  4      Missouri    .       74 


326 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Water,  river,  character  of  the  Platte  75 
Waters  of  Nebraska            ....  52 
Wayne  Count}',  how  affected  by  the  Lo- 
gan River 64 

Weasels 119 

Wells,  artesian  and  common     .         .  54 
Western    Nebraska,    future  increase  of 

rainfall 48 

WildCat 119 

Wind,  direction  and  force  of,  table           .  24 


PAGE 

White,  Dr.  .  .  .  162-163-165-178 
White  River,  character  of,  etc.  .  62-63 
Winds  of  Nebraska  .  30 

Winter,  storms  of                .  30 

Wood  chucks  .  .  .  120 
Wolverines  ...  .  .  120 
Wolves,  number  of,  etc.  .  .  119 
Worm,  army  ...  .133 
Zinc 316 


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